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PKI secrets engine (API)

warning

Note: This engine can use external X.509 certificates as part of TLS or signature validation. Verifying signatures against X.509 certificates that use SHA-1 is deprecated and is no longer usable without a workaround. See the deprecation FAQ for more information.

This is the API documentation for the OpenBao PKI secrets engine. For general information about the usage and operation of the PKI secrets engine, please see the PKI documentation.

This documentation assumes the PKI secrets engine is enabled at the /pki path in OpenBao. Since it is possible to enable secrets engines at any location, please update your API calls accordingly.

Table of contents​

Notice about new Multi-Issuer functionality​

OpenBao allows a single PKI mount to have multiple Certificate Authority (CA) certificates ("issuers") in a single mount, for the purpose of facilitating rotation. All issuers within a single mount are treated as a single Authority, meaning that:

  1. Certificate Revocation List (CRL) configuration is common to all issuers,
  2. All authority access URLs are common to all issuers,
  3. Issued certificates' serial numbers will be unique across all issuers.

However, since each issuer may have a distinct subject and keys, different issuers may have different CRLs.

It is strongly encouraged to limit the scope of CAs within a mount and not to mix different types of CAs (roots and intermediates).

warning

Note: Some functionality will not work if a default issuer is not configured. OpenBao automatically selects the default issuer from the current issuing certificate on migration from an older OpenBao version.

ACME certificate issuance​

OpenBao supports the ACME certificate lifecycle management protocol for issuing and renewing leaf server certificates.

In order to use ACME, a cluster path must be set and ACME must be enabled in its configuration with the required headers enabled on the mount tuning.

Using ACME with a role requires no_store=false to be set on the role; this allows the certificate to be stored and later fetched through the ACME protocol.

ACME directories​

OpenBao PKI supports the following ACME directories, providing different restrictions around usage (defaults, a specific issuer and/or a specific role). To interact with these directories, specify the directory URL in an ACME client. For example, with the EFF's CertBot:

$ certbot certonly --server https://localhost:8200/v1/pki/acme/directory ...

These endpoints are unauthenticated from an OpenBao authentication model, but internally authenticated via the ACME protocol.

MethodPathDefault Directory PolicyIssuerRole
ACME/pki/acme/directorysign-verbatimdefaultSign-Verbatim
ACME/pki/acme/directoryrole:role_refSpecified by the role:role_ref
ACME/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/acme/directorysign-verbatim:issuer_refSign-Verbatim
ACME/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/acme/directoryrole:role_ref:issuer_ref:role_ref
ACME/pki/roles/:role/acme/directory(any)Specified by the role:role
ACME/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/roles/:role/acme/directory(any):issuer_ref:role

When a role is not specified (for the first two directory URLs, or four lines in the table), behavior is specified by the default_directory_policy in the ACME configuration. These directories can also be forbidden by setting that policy as forbid. If the policy is sign-verbatim then any identifier for which the client can prove ownership of will be issued for. This is similar to using the Sign Verbatim endpoint, but with additional verification that the client has proven ownership (within the ACME protocol) of the requested certificate identifiers.

ACME challenge types​

OpenBao supports the following ACME challenge types presently:

  • http-01, supporting both dns and ip identifiers.
  • dns-01, supporting dns identifiers including wildcards.
  • tls-alpn-01, supporting only non-wildcard dns identifiers.

A custom DNS resolver used by the server for looking up DNS names for use with both mechanisms can be added via the ACME configuration.

ACME external account bindings​

ACME External Account Binding (EAB) Policy can enforce that clients need to have a valid external account binding to OpenBao. Before registering a new account, an authenticated OpenBao client will need to fetch a new EAB token. This returns two values: a key identifier and an HMAC key used by the ACME client to authenticate with EAB. For example:

$ openbao write -f /pki/acme/new-eab
$ certbot certonly --server https://localhost:8200/v1/pki/acme/directory \
                   --eab-kid <id> --eab-hmac-key <hmac-key>

With or without EAB, requests from the ACME client are not authenticated using traditional OpenBao authentication, but are instead authenticated through the ACME protocol. With EAB however, an OpenBao authenticated client will have to fetch an EAB token and pass it to the ACME client for use on the initial registration: this binds the ACME client's registration to an authenticated OpenBao endpoint, but not further to the client's entity or other information.

warning

Note: Enabling EAB is strongly recommended for public-facing OpenBao deployments. Use of the VAULT_DISABLE_PUBLIC_ACME environment variable can be used to enforce all ACME instances have EAB enabled.

ACME required headers​

ACME requires the following response headers (allowed_response_headers) to be specified by mount tuning:

  • Replay-Nonce
  • Link
  • Location

On an existing mount, these can be specified by running the following command:

$ openbao secrets tune -allowed-response-headers=Location -allowed-response-headers=Replay-Nonce \
                     -allowed-response-headers=Link \
                     pki/

Get ACME EAB binding token​

This endpoint returns a new ACME binding token. The id response field can be used as the key identifier and the key response field be used as the EAB HMAC key in the ACME Client.

Each call to this endpoint will generate and return a new EAB binding token that is linked to the specific ACME directory it resides under. EAB tokens are not usable across different ACME directories.

MethodPath
POST/pki/acme/new-eab
POST/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/acme/new-eab
POST/pki/roles/:role/acme/new-eab
POST/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/roles/:role/acme/new-eab

Parameters​

No parameters.

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/acme/new-eab

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "created_on": "2023-05-24T14:33:00-04:00",
    "id": "bc8088d9-3816-5177-ae8e-d8393265f7dd",
    "key_type": "hs",
    "acme_directory": "acme/directory",
    "key": "MHcCAQE... additional data elided ...",
  }
}

List unused ACME EAB binding tokens​

This endpoint returns a list of all unused ACME binding tokens; once used, they will be removed from this list.

MethodPath
LIST/pki/eab

Parameters​

  • after (string: "") - Optional entry to begin listing after for pagination; not required to exist.

  • limit (int: 0) - Optional number of entries to return; defaults to all entries.

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request LIST \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/eab

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "key_info": {
      "bc8088d9-3816-5177-ae8e-d8393265f7dd": {
        "created_on": "2023-05-24T14:33:00-04:00",
        "key_type": "hs",
        "acme_directory": "acme/directory"
      }
    },
    "keys": [
      "bc8088d9-3816-5177-ae8e-d8393265f7dd"
    ]
  }
}

Delete unused ACME EAB binding tokens​

This endpoint allows the deletion of an unused ACME binding token.

MethodPath
DELETE/pki/eab/:key_id

Parameters​

  • key_id (string: <required>) - The id of the EAB binding token to delete. This is part of the request URL.

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request DELETE \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/eab/bc8088d9-3816-5177-ae8e-d8393265f7dd

Get ACME configuration​

This endpoint allows reading of the current ACME server configuration used by this mount.

MethodPath
GET/pki/config/acme

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/config/acme

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "allowed_issuers": [
      "*"
    ],
    "allowed_roles": [
      "*"
    ],
    "default_directory_policy": "sign-verbatim",
    "dns_resolver": "",
    "eab_policy": "not-required",
    "enabled": true
  },
}

Set ACME configuration​

This endpoint allows setting the ACME server configuration used by this mount.

MethodPath
POST/pki/config/acme

Parameters​

  • allowed_issuers (list: ["*"]) - Specifies a list issuers allowed to issue certificates via explicit ACME paths. If an allowed role specifies an issuer outside this list, it will be allowed. The default value * allows every issuer within the mount.

  • allow_role_ext_key_usage (bool: false) - whether the ExtKeyUsage field from a role is used, defaults to false meaning that certificate will be signed with ServerAuth.

  • allowed_roles (list: ["*"]) - Specifies a list of roles allowed to issue certificates via explicit ACME paths. The default value * allows every role within the mount to be used. If the default_directory_policy specifies a role, it must be allowed under this configuration.

  • default_directory_policy (string: "sign-verbatim") - Specifies the behavior of the default ACME directory. Can be forbid, sign-verbatim or a role given by role:<role_name>. If a role is used, it must be present in allowed_roles.

  • dns_resolver (string: "") - An optional overriding DNS resolver to use for challenge verification lookups. When not specified, the default system resolver will be used. This allows domains on peered networks with an accessible DNS resolver to be validated.

  • eab_policy (string: "not-required") - Specified policy to enforce around External Account Bindings (EABs). The allowed values are:

    • not-required, where EABs are not enforced but are validated if specified.

    • new-account-required, where new accounts are required to have EAB but existing accounts can still be used.

    • always-required, where all accounts regardless of age are required to have EABs set.

  • enabled (bool: false) - Whether ACME is enabled on this mount. When ACME is disabled, all requests to ACME directory URLs will return 404.

Sample payload​

{
    "enabled": true
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/config/acme

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "allowed_issuers": [
      "*"
    ],
    "allowed_roles": [
      "*"
    ],
    "default_directory_policy": "sign-verbatim",
    "dns_resolver": "",
    "eab_policy": "not-required",
    "enabled": true
  }
}

Issuing certificates​

The following API endpoints allow users or operators to request certificates and are all authenticated.

In general, for self-serve use, the /pki/sign/:name and /pki/issue/:name are sufficient to allow most users to access for ACL purposes. The per-issuer variants (/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/sign/:name and /pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/issue/:name) allow the requester to override the role's chosen issuer, potentially allowing users to request certificates issued by the wrong parent authority.

Some API endpoints included here are privileged and should only be accessed by trusted users or operators; these include the various sign-verbatim, sign-self-signed and sign-intermediate endpoints.

If an issued certificate has been compromised, it should be revoked. The OpenBao PKI secrets engine presently only allows revocation by serial number; because this could allow users to deny access to other users, it should be restricted to operators.

List roles​

This endpoint returns a list of available roles. Only the role names are returned, not any values. It is useful to both operators and users.

MethodPath
LIST/pki/roles

Parameters​

  • after (string: "") - Optional entry to begin listing after for pagination; not required to exist.

  • limit (int: 0) - Optional number of entries to return; defaults to all entries.

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request LIST \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/roles

Sample response​

{
  "auth": null,
  "data": {
    "keys": ["dev", "prod"]
  },
  "lease_duration": 0,
  "lease_id": "",
  "renewable": false
}

Read role​

This endpoint queries the role definition. It is useful to both operators and users.

MethodPath
GET/pki/roles/:name

Parameters​

  • name (string: <required>) - Specifies the name of the role to read. This is part of the request URL.

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/roles/my-role

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "allow_any_name": false,
    "allow_ip_sans": true,
    "allow_localhost": true,
    "allow_subdomains": false,
    "allowed_domains": ["example.com", "foobar.com"],
    "allowed_uri_sans": ["example.com", "spiffe://*"],
    "allowed_other_sans": [
      "1.3.6.1.4.1.311.20.2.3;utf8:devops@example.com",
      "1.3.6.1.4.1.311.20.2.4;UTF-8:*"
    ],
    "client_flag": true,
    "code_signing_flag": false,
    "key_bits": 2048,
    "key_type": "rsa",
    "ttl": "6h",
    "max_ttl": "12h",
    "server_flag": true,
    ... additional fields elided ...
  }
}

Generate certificate and key​

This endpoint generates a new set of credentials (private key and certificate) based on the role named in the endpoint. The issuing CA certificate and full CA chain is returned as well, so that only the root CA need be in a client's trust store. Choice of issuing CA is determined first by the role (when using the /pki/issue/:name path) and then by the path (when using the /pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/issue/name path).

It is suggested to limit access to the path-overridden issue endpoint (on /pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/issue/:name).

warning

Note: The private key is not stored. If you do not save the private key from the response, you will need to request a new certificate.

MethodPathIssuer
POST/pki/issue/:nameRole selected
POST/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/issue/:namePath selected

Parameters​

  • name (string: <required>) - Specifies the name of the role to create the certificate against. This is part of the request URL.

  • issuer_ref (string: <required>) - Reference to an existing issuer, either by OpenBao-generated identifier, the literal string default to refer to the currently configured default issuer, or the name assigned to an issuer. This parameter is part of the request URL.

warning

Note: This parameter is not present on the /pki/issue/:name path and takes its value from the role's issuer_ref field.

  • common_name (string: "") - Specifies the requested CN for the certificate. If the CN is allowed by role policy, it will be issued. If more than one common_name is desired, specify the alternative names in the alt_names list.
warning

Note: A value for common_name is required when require_cn is set to true

  • alt_names (string: "") - Specifies requested Subject Alternative Names, in a comma-delimited list. These can be host names or email addresses; they will be parsed into their respective fields. If any requested names do not match role policy, the entire request will be denied.

  • ip_sans (string: "") - Specifies requested IP Subject Alternative Names, in a comma-delimited list. Only valid if the role allows IP SANs (which is the default).

  • uri_sans (string: "") - Specifies the requested URI Subject Alternative Names, in a comma-delimited list. If any requested URIs do not match role policy, the entire request will be denied.

  • other_sans (string: "") - Specifies custom OID/UTF8-string SANs. These must match values specified on the role in allowed_other_sans (see role creation for allowed_other_sans globbing rules). The format is the same as OpenSSL: <oid>;<type>:<value> where the only current valid type is UTF8. This can be a comma-delimited list or a JSON string slice.

  • ttl (string: "") - Specifies requested Time To Live. Cannot be greater than the role's max_ttl value. If not provided, the role's ttl value will be used. Note that the role values default to system values if not explicitly set. See not_after as an alternative for setting an absolute end date (rather than a relative one).

  • format (string: "pem") - Specifies the format for returned data. Can be pem, der, or pem_bundle; defaults to pem. If der, the output is base64 encoded. If pem_bundle, the certificate field will contain the private key and certificate, concatenated; if the issuing CA is not a OpenBao-derived self-signed root, this will be included as well.

  • private_key_format (string: "der") - Specifies the format for marshaling the private key within the private_key response field. Defaults to der which will return either base64-encoded DER or PEM-encoded DER, depending on the value of format. The other option is pkcs8 which will return the key marshalled as PEM-encoded PKCS8.

warning

Note that this does not apply to the private key within the certificate field if format=pem_bundle parameter is specified.

  • exclude_cn_from_sans (bool: false) - If true, the given common_name will not be included in DNS or Email Subject Alternate Names (as appropriate). Useful if the CN is not a hostname or email address, but is instead some human-readable identifier.

not_before (string) - Specifies the Not Before field of the certificate with specified date value. The value format should be given in UTC format YYYY-MM-ddTHH:MM:SSZ. This value has no impact in the validity period of the requested certificate, specified in the ttl field.

  • not_after (string) - Set the Not After field of the certificate with specified date value. The value format should be given in UTC format YYYY-MM-ddTHH:MM:SSZ. Supports the Y10K end date for IEEE 802.1AR-2018 standard devices, 9999-12-31T23:59:59Z.

  • remove_roots_from_chain (bool: false) - If true, the returned ca_chain field will not include any self-signed CA certificates. Useful if end-users already have the root CA in their trust store.

  • user_ids (string: "") - Specifies the comma-separated list of requested User ID (OID 0.9.2342.19200300.100.1.1) Subject values to be placed on the signed certificate. This field is validated against allowed_user_ids on the role.

  • key_type (string: "") - Specifies the desired key type when the role allows any key type; must be rsa, ed25519, or ec. Use the literal empty string when the role's key type should be respected.

  • key_bits (int: 0) - Specifies the number of bits to use for the generated keys when the role allows any key type. Allowed values are 0 (universal default); with key_type=rsa, allowed values are: 2048 (default), 3072, or 4096; with key_type=ec, allowed values are: 224, 256 (default), 384, or 521; ignored with key_type=ed25519. Ignored when the role has an explicit key type specified.

Sample payload​

{
  "common_name": "www.example.com"
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/issue/my-role

Sample response​

{
  "lease_id": "pki/issue/test/7ad6cfa5-f04f-c62a-d477-f33210475d05",
  "renewable": false,
  "lease_duration": 21600,
  "data": {
    "certificate": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDzDCCAragAwIBAgIUOd0ukLcjH43TfTHFG9qE0FtlMVgwCwYJKoZIhvcNAQEL\n...\numkqeYeO30g1uYvDuWLXVA==\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n",
    "issuing_ca": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDUTCCAjmgAwIBAgIJAKM+z4MSfw2mMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBCwUAMBsxGTAXBgNV\n...\nG/7g4koczXLoUM3OQXd5Aq2cs4SS1vODrYmgbioFsQ3eDHd1fg==\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n",
    "ca_chain": [
      "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDUTCCAjmgAwIBAgIJAKM+z4MSfw2mMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBCwUAMBsxGTAXBgNV\n...\nG/7g4koczXLoUM3OQXd5Aq2cs4SS1vODrYmgbioFsQ3eDHd1fg==\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n"
    ],
    "private_key": "-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----\nMIIEowIBAAKCAQEAnVHfwoKsUG1GDVyWB1AFroaKl2ImMBO8EnvGLRrmobIkQvh+\n...\nQN351pgTphi6nlCkGPzkDuwvtxSxiCWXQcaxrHAL7MiJpPzkIBq1\n-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----\n",
    "private_key_type": "rsa",
    "serial_number": "39:dd:2e:90:b7:23:1f:8d:d3:7d:31:c5:1b:da:84:d0:5b:65:31:58"
  },
  "warnings": "",
  "auth": null
}

Sign certificate​

This endpoint signs a new certificate based upon the provided CSR and the supplied parameters, subject to the restrictions contained in the role named in the endpoint. The issuing CA certificate and the full CA chain is returned as well, so that only the root CA need be in a client's trust store.

It is suggested to limit access to the path-overridden sign endpoint (on /pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/sign/:name).

MethodPathIssuer
POST/pki/sign/:nameRole selected
POST/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/sign/:namePath selected

Parameters​

  • name (string: <required>) - Specifies the name of the role to create the certificate against. This is part of the request URL.

  • issuer_ref (string: <required>) - Reference to an existing issuer, either by OpenBao-generated identifier, the literal string default to refer to the currently configured default issuer, or the name assigned to an issuer. This parameter is part of the request URL.

warning

Note: This parameter is not present on the /pki/sign/:name path and takes its value from the role's issuer_ref field.

  • csr (string: <required>) - Specifies the PEM-encoded CSR.

  • common_name (string: <required>) - Specifies the requested CN for the certificate. If the CN is allowed by role policy, it will be issued. If more than one common_name is desired, specify the alternative names in the alt_names list.

  • alt_names (string: "") - Specifies the requested Subject Alternative Names, in a comma-delimited list. These can be host names or email addresses; they will be parsed into their respective fields. If any requested names do not match role policy, the entire request will be denied.

  • other_sans (string: "") - Specifies custom OID/UTF8-string SANs. These must match values specified on the role in allowed_other_sans (see role creation for allowed_other_sans globbing rules). The format is the same as OpenSSL: <oid>;<type>:<value> where the only current valid type is UTF8. This can be a comma-delimited list or a JSON string slice.

  • ip_sans (string: "") - Specifies the requested IP Subject Alternative Names, in a comma-delimited list. Only valid if the role allows IP SANs (which is the default).

  • uri_sans (string: "") - Specifies the requested URI Subject Alternative Names, in a comma-delimited list. If any requested URIs do not match role policy, the entire request will be denied.

  • ttl (string: "") - Specifies the requested Time To Live. Cannot be greater than the role's max_ttl value. If not provided, the role's ttl value will be used. Note that the role values default to system values if not explicitly set. See not_after as an alternative for setting an absolute end date (rather than a relative one).

  • format (string: "pem") - Specifies the format for returned data. Can be pem, der, or pem_bundle. If der, the output is base64 encoded. If pem_bundle, the certificate field will contain the certificate and, if the issuing CA is not an OpenBao-derived self-signed root, it will be concatenated with the certificate.

  • exclude_cn_from_sans (bool: false) - If true, the given common_name will not be included in DNS or Email Subject Alternate Names (as appropriate). Useful if the CN is not a hostname or email address, but is instead some human-readable identifier.

  • not_after (string) - Set the Not After field of the certificate with specified date value. The value format should be given in UTC format YYYY-MM-ddTHH:MM:SSZ. Supports the Y10K end date for IEEE 802.1AR-2018 standard devices, 9999-12-31T23:59:59Z.

  • remove_roots_from_chain (bool: false) - If true, the returned ca_chain field will not include any self-signed CA certificates. Useful if end-users already have the root CA in their trust store.

  • user_ids (string: "") - Specifies the comma-separated list of requested User ID (OID 0.9.2342.19200300.100.1.1) Subject values to be placed on the signed certificate. This field is validated against allowed_user_ids on the role.

Sample payload​

{
  "csr": "...",
  "common_name": "example.com"
}

Sample response​

{
  "lease_id": "pki/sign/test/7ad6cfa5-f04f-c62a-d477-f33210475d05",
  "renewable": false,
  "lease_duration": 21600,
  "data": {
    "certificate": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDzDCCAragAwIBAgIUOd0ukLcjH43TfTHFG9qE0FtlMVgwCwYJKoZIhvcNAQEL\n...\numkqeYeO30g1uYvDuWLXVA==\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n",
    "issuing_ca": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDUTCCAjmgAwIBAgIJAKM+z4MSfw2mMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBCwUAMBsxGTAXBgNV\n...\nG/7g4koczXLoUM3OQXd5Aq2cs4SS1vODrYmgbioFsQ3eDHd1fg==\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n",
    "ca_chain": [
      "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDUTCCAjmgAwIBAgIJAKM+z4MSfw2mMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBCwUAMBsxGTAXBgNV\n...\nG/7g4koczXLoUM3OQXd5Aq2cs4SS1vODrYmgbioFsQ3eDHd1fg==\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n"
    ],
    "serial_number": "39:dd:2e:90:b7:23:1f:8d:d3:7d:31:c5:1b:da:84:d0:5b:65:31:58"
  },
  "auth": null
}

Sign intermediate​

This endpoint uses the configured CA certificate to issue a certificate with appropriate values for acting as an intermediate CA. Distribution points use the values set via config/urls. Values set in the CSR are ignored unless use_csr_values is set to true, in which case the values from the CSR are used verbatim.

This endpoint can be used both when signing an OpenBao-backed intermediate or when signing an externally-owned intermediate.

warning

Note: This is a privileged endpoint, as callers are granted a new intermediate certificate, with which they can issue for arbitrary names. Access to this endpoint should be restricted by policy to only trusted operators.

MethodPathIssuer
POST/pki/root/sign-intermediatedefault
POST/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/sign-intermediateSelected

Parameters​

  • issuer_ref (string: <required>) - Reference to an existing issuer, either by OpenBao-generated identifier, the literal string default to refer to the currently configured default issuer, or the name assigned to an issuer. This parameter is part of the request URL.
warning

Note: This parameter is not present on the /pki/root/sign-intermediate path and takes the value default.

  • csr (string: <required>) - Specifies the PEM-encoded CSR to be signed.

  • common_name (string: <required>) - Specifies the requested CN for the certificate. If more than one common_name is desired, specify the alternative names in the alt_names list.

  • alt_names (string: "") - Specifies the requested Subject Alternative Names, in a comma-delimited list. These can be host names or email addresses; they will be parsed into their respective fields.

  • ip_sans (string: "") - Specifies the requested IP Subject Alternative Names, in a comma-delimited list.

  • uri_sans (string: "") - Specifies the requested URI Subject Alternative Names, in a comma-delimited list.

  • other_sans (string: "") - Specifies custom OID/UTF8-string SANs. These must match values specified on the role in allowed_other_sans (see role creation for allowed_other_sans globbing rules). The format is the same as OpenSSL: <oid>;<type>:<value> where the only current valid type is UTF8. This can be a comma-delimited list or a JSON string slice.

  • ttl (string: "") - Specifies the requested Time To Live (after which the certificate will be expired). This cannot be larger than the engine's max (or, if not set, the system max). However, this can be after the expiration of the signing CA. See not_after as an alternative for setting an absolute end date (rather than a relative one).

  • format (string: "pem") - Specifies the format for returned data. Can be pem, der, or pem_bundle. If der, the output is base64 encoded. If pem_bundle, the certificate field will contain the certificate and, if the issuing CA is not an OpenBao-derived self-signed root, it will be concatenated with the certificate.

  • max_path_length (int: -1) - Specifies the maximum path length to encode in the generated certificate. -1, means no limit, unless the signing certificate has a maximum path length set, in which case the path length is set to one less than that of the signing certificate. A limit of 0 means a literal path length of zero.

  • exclude_cn_from_sans (bool: false) - If true, the given common_name will not be included in DNS or Email Subject Alternate Names (as appropriate). Useful if the CN is not a hostname or email address, but is instead some human-readable identifier.

  • use_csr_values (bool: false) - If set to true, then: 1) Subject information, including names and alternate names, will be preserved from the CSR rather than using the values provided in the other parameters to this path; 2) Any key usages (for instance, non-repudiation) requested in the CSR will be added to the basic set of key usages used for CA certs signed by this path; 3) Extensions requested in the CSR will be copied into the issued certificate.

  • permitted_dns_domains (string: "") - A comma separated string (or, string array) containing DNS domains for which certificates are allowed to be issued or signed by this CA certificate. Supports subdomains via a . in front of the domain, as per RFC 5280 Section 4.2.1.10 - Name Constraints

  • ou (string: "") - Specifies the OU (OrganizationalUnit) values in the subject field of the resulting certificate. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • organization (string: "") - Specifies the O (Organization) values in the subject field of the resulting certificate. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • country (string: "") - Specifies the C (Country) values in the subject field of the resulting certificate. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • locality (string: "") - Specifies the L (Locality) values in the subject field of the resulting certificate. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • province (string: "") - Specifies the ST (Province) values in the subject field of the resulting certificate. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • street_address (string: "") - Specifies the Street Address values in the subject field of the resulting certificate. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • postal_code (string: "") - Specifies the Postal Code values in the subject field of the resulting certificate. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • serial_number (string: "") - - Specifies the requested Subject's named Serial Number value, if any. If you want more than one, specify alternative names in the alt_names map using OID 2.5.4.5. Note that this has no impact on the Certificate's serial number field, which OpenBao randomly generates.

  • not_before_duration (duration: "30s") - Specifies the duration by which to backdate the NotBefore property. This value has no impact in the validity period of the requested certificate, specified in the ttl field. Uses duration format strings.

  • not_before (string) - Specifies the Not Before field of the certificate with specified date value. The value format should be given in UTC format YYYY-MM-ddTHH:MM:SSZ. This value has no impact in the validity period of the requested certificate, specified in the ttl field.

  • not_after (string) - Set the Not After field of the certificate with specified date value. The value format should be given in UTC format YYYY-MM-ddTHH:MM:SSZ. Supports the Y10K end date for IEEE 802.1AR-2018 standard devices, 9999-12-31T23:59:59Z.

  • signature_bits (int: 0) - Specifies the number of bits to use in the signature algorithm; accepts 256 for SHA-2-256, 384 for SHA-2-384, and 512 for SHA-2-512. Defaults to 0 to automatically detect based on issuer's key length (SHA-2-256 for RSA keys, and matching the curve size for NIST P-Curves).

warning

Note: ECDSA and Ed25519 issuers do not follow configuration of the signature_bits value; only RSA issuers will change signature types based on this parameter.

  • skid (string: "") - Value for the Subject Key Identifier field (RFC 5280 Section 4.2.1.2). Specified as a string in hex format. Default is empty, allowing OpenBao to automatically calculate the SKID according to method one in the above RFC section.
warning

Note: This value should ONLY be used when cross-signing to mimic the existing certificate's SKID value; this is necessary to allow certain TLS implementations (such as OpenSSL) which use SKID/AKID matches in chain building to restrict possible valid chains.

  • use_pss (bool: false) - Specifies whether or not to use PSS signatures over PKCS#1v1.5 signatures when a RSA-type issuer is used. Ignored for ECDSA/Ed25519 issuers.

  • key_usage (list: ["KeyAgreement", "KeyEncipherment"]) - Specifies the default key usage constraint on the issued certificate. Valid values can be found at https://golang.org/pkg/crypto/x509/#KeyUsage - simply drop the KeyUsage part of the value. Values are not case-sensitive.

~> Note: previous versions of this document incorrectly called this a constraint; this value is only used as a default when the KeyUsage extension is missing from the CSR.

  • ext_key_usage (list: []) - Specifies the default extended key usage constraint on the issued certificate. Valid values can be found at https://golang.org/pkg/crypto/x509/#ExtKeyUsage - simply drop the ExtKeyUsage part of the value. Values are not case-sensitive. To specify no key default usage constraints, set this to an empty list.

~> Note: previous versions of this document incorrectly called this a constraint; this value is only used as a default when the ExtendedKeyUsage extension is missing from the CSR.

  • ext_key_usage_oids (string: "") - A comma-separated string or list of extended key usage oids.

~> Note: This value is only used as a default when the ExtendedKeyUsage extension is missing from the CSR.

Sample payload​

{
  "csr": "...",
  "common_name": "example.com"
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/root/sign-intermediate

Sample response​

{
  "lease_id": "",
  "renewable": false,
  "lease_duration": 0,
  "data": {
    "certificate": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDzDCCAragAwIBAgIUOd0ukLcjH43TfTHFG9qE0FtlMVgwCwYJKoZIhvcNAQEL\n...\numkqeYeO30g1uYvDuWLXVA==\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n",
    "issuing_ca": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDUTCCAjmgAwIBAgIJAKM+z4MSfw2mMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBCwUAMBsxGTAXBgNV\n...\nG/7g4koczXLoUM3OQXd5Aq2cs4SS1vODrYmgbioFsQ3eDHd1fg==\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n",
    "ca_chain": [
      "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDUTCCAjmgAwIBAgIJAKM+z4MSfw2mMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBCwUAMBsxGTAXBgNV\n...\nG/7g4koczXLoUM3OQXd5Aq2cs4SS1vODrYmgbioFsQ3eDHd1fg==\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n"
    ],
    "serial_number": "39:dd:2e:90:b7:23:1f:8d:d3:7d:31:c5:1b:da:84:d0:5b:65:31:58"
  },
  "auth": null
}

Sign Self-Issued​

This endpoint uses the configured CA certificate to sign a self-issued certificate (which will usually be a self-signed certificate as well).

warning

This is an extremely privileged endpoint. The given certificate will be signed as-is with only minimal validation performed (is it a CA cert, and is it actually self-issued). The only values that will be changed will be the authority key ID, the issuer DN, and, if set, any distribution points.

It is recommended to limit this endpoint to only trusted operators.

This is generally only needed for root certificate rolling in cases where you don't want/can't get access to a CSR (such as if it's a root stored in OpenBao where the key is not exposed). If you don't know whether you need this endpoint, you most likely should be using a different endpoint (such as sign-intermediate).

MethodPathIssuerRequires sudo capability
POST/pki/root/sign-self-issueddefaultyes
POST/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/sign-self-issuedSelectedno

Parameters​

  • issuer_ref (string: <required>) - Reference to an existing issuer, either by OpenBao-generated identifier, the literal string default to refer to the currently configured default issuer, or the name assigned to an issuer. This parameter is part of the request URL.
warning

Note: This parameter is not present on the /pki/root/sign-self-issued path and takes the value default.

  • certificate (string: <required>) - Specifies the PEM-encoded self-issued certificate.

  • require_matching_certificate_algorithms (bool: false) - If true, requires that the public key algorithm of the CA match that of the submitted certificate.

Sample payload​

{
  "certificate": "..."
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/root/sign-self-issued

Sample response​

{
  "lease_id": "",
  "renewable": false,
  "lease_duration": 0,
  "data": {
    "certificate": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDzDCCAragAwIBAgIUOd0ukLcjH43TfTHFG9qE0FtlMVgwCwYJKoZIhvcNAQEL\n...\numkqeYeO30g1uYvDuWLXVA==\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n",
    "issuing_ca": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDUTCCAjmgAwIBAgIJAKM+z4MSfw2mMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBCwUAMBsxGTAXBgNV\n...\nG/7g4koczXLoUM3OQXd5Aq2cs4SS1vODrYmgbioFsQ3eDHd1fg==\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n"
  },
  "auth": null
}

Sign verbatim​

This endpoint signs a new certificate based upon the provided CSR. Values are taken verbatim from the CSR; the only restriction is that this endpoint will refuse to issue an intermediate CA certificate (see the /pki/root/sign-intermediate endpoint for that functionality.)

This is a potentially dangerous endpoint and only highly trusted users should have access.

MethodPathIssuer
POST/pki/sign-verbatim(/:name)default
POST/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/sign-verbatim(/:name)Selected

Parameters​

  • issuer_ref (string: <required>) - Reference to an existing issuer, either by OpenBao-generated identifier, the literal string default to refer to the currently configured default issuer, or the name assigned to an issuer. This parameter is part of the request URL.
warning

Note: This parameter is not present on the /pki/root/sign-self-issued path and takes the value default.

  • name (string: "") - Specifies a role. If set, the following parameters from the role will have effect: ttl, max_ttl, generate_lease, no_store, not_before_duration and basic_constraints_valid_for_non_ca. However, if the basic_constraints_valid_for_non_ca parameter is explicitly provided in the API call, it takes priority over the value set in the role.

  • csr (string: <required>) - Specifies the PEM-encoded CSR.

  • key_usage (list: ["DigitalSignature", "KeyAgreement", "KeyEncipherment"]) - Specifies the default key usage constraint on the issued certificate. Valid values can be found at https://golang.org/pkg/crypto/x509/#KeyUsage - simply drop the KeyUsage part of the value. Values are not case-sensitive. To specify no default key usage constraints, set this to an empty list.

warning

Note: previous versions of this document incorrectly called this a constraint; this value is only used as a default when the KeyUsage extension is missing from the CSR.

  • ext_key_usage (list: []) - Specifies the default extended key usage constraint on the issued certificate. Valid values can be found at https://golang.org/pkg/crypto/x509/#ExtKeyUsage - simply drop the ExtKeyUsage part of the value. Values are not case-sensitive. To specify no key default usage constraints, set this to an empty list.
warning

Note: previous versions of this document incorrectly called this a constraint; this value is only used as a default when the ExtendedKeyUsage extension is missing from the CSR.

  • ext_key_usage_oids (string: "") - A comma-separated string or list of extended key usage oids.
warning

Note: This value is only used as a default when the ExtendedKeyUsage extension is missing from the CSR.

  • ttl (string: "") - Specifies the requested Time To Live. Cannot be greater than the engine's max_ttl value. If not provided, the engine's ttl value will be used, which defaults to system values if not explicitly set. See not_after as an alternative for setting an absolute end date (rather than a relative one).

  • format (string: "pem") - Specifies the format for returned data. Can be pem, der, or pem_bundle. If der, the output is base64 encoded. If pem_bundle, the certificate field will contain the certificate and, if the issuing CA is not an OpenBao-derived self-signed root, it will be concatenated with the certificate.

  • not_before (string) - Specifies the Not Before field of the certificate with specified date value. The value format should be given in UTC format YYYY-MM-ddTHH:MM:SSZ. This value has no impact in the validity period of the requested certificate, specified in the ttl field.

  • not_after (string) - Set the Not After field of the certificate with specified date value. The value format should be given in UTC format YYYY-MM-ddTHH:MM:SSZ. Supports the Y10K end date for IEEE 802.1AR-2018 standard devices, 9999-12-31T23:59:59Z.

  • signature_bits (int: 0) - Specifies the number of bits to use in the signature algorithm; accepts 256 for SHA-2-256, 384 for SHA-2-384, and 512 for SHA-2-512. Defaults to 0 to automatically detect based on issuer's key length (SHA-2-256 for RSA keys, and matching the curve size for NIST P-Curves).

warning

Note: ECDSA and Ed25519 issuers do not follow configuration of the signature_bits value; only RSA issuers will change signature types based on this parameter.

  • use_pss (bool: false) - Specifies whether or not to use PSS signatures over PKCS#1v1.5 signatures when a RSA-type issuer is used. Ignored for ECDSA/Ed25519 issuers.

  • remove_roots_from_chain (bool: false) - If true, the returned ca_chain field will not include any self-signed CA certificates. Useful if end-users already have the root CA in their trust store.

  • user_ids (string: "") - Specifies the comma-separated list of requested User ID (OID 0.9.2342.19200300.100.1.1) Subject values to be placed on the signed certificate. No validation on names is performed using this endpoint.

    • basic_constraints_valid_for_non_ca (bool: false) - Mark Basic Constraints valid when issuing non-CA certificates. When the endpoint is used with a role, this parameter overwrites the basic_constraints_valid_for_non_ca value set in the role.

Sample payload​

{
  "csr": "..."
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/sign-verbatim

Sample response​

{
  "lease_id": "pki/sign-verbatim/7ad6cfa5-f04f-c62a-d477-f33210475d05",
  "renewable": false,
  "lease_duration": 21600,
  "data": {
    "certificate": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDzDCCAragAwIBAgIUOd0ukLcjH43TfTHFG9qE0FtlMVgwCwYJKoZIhvcNAQEL\n...\numkqeYeO30g1uYvDuWLXVA==\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n",
    "issuing_ca": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDUTCCAjmgAwIBAgIJAKM+z4MSfw2mMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBCwUAMBsxGTAXBgNV\n...\nG/7g4koczXLoUM3OQXd5Aq2cs4SS1vODrYmgbioFsQ3eDHd1fg==\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n",
    "ca_chain": [
      "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDUTCCAjmgAwIBAgIJAKM+z4MSfw2mMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBCwUAMBsxGTAXBgNV\n...\nG/7g4koczXLoUM3OQXd5Aq2cs4SS1vODrYmgbioFsQ3eDHd1fg==\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n"
    ],
    "serial_number": "39:dd:2e:90:b7:23:1f:8d:d3:7d:31:c5:1b:da:84:d0:5b:65:31:58"
  },
  "auth": null
}

Revoke certificate​

This endpoint revokes a certificate using its serial number. This is an alternative option to the standard method of revoking using OpenBao lease IDs. A successful revocation will rotate the CRL.

warning

Note: This operation is privileged as it allows revocation of arbitrary certificates based purely on their serial number. It does not validate that the requesting user issued the certificate or has possession of the private key.

It is not possible to revoke issuers using this path.

MethodPath
POST/pki/revoke

Parameters​

warning

Note: either serial_number or certificate (but not both) must be specified on requests to this endpoint.

  • serial_number (string: <optional>) - Specifies the serial number of the certificate to revoke, in hyphen-separated or colon-separated hexadecimal.

  • certificate (string: <optional>) - Specifies the certificate to revoke, in PEM format. This certificate must have been signed by one of the issuers in this mount in order to be accepted for revocation.

Sample payload​

{
  "serial_number": "39:dd:2e..."
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/revoke

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "revocation_time": 1433269787
  }
}

Revoke certificate with private key​

This endpoint revokes a certificate using its private key as proof that the request is authorized by an appropriate individual (Proof of Possession).

This is an alternative option to the standard method of revoking using OpenBao lease IDs or revocation via serial number. A successful revocation will rotate the CRL.

It is not possible to revoke issuers using this path.

warning

Note: This operation is NOT privileged, as it validates revocation has a private key corresponding to a certificate signed by OpenBao. However, to avoid third parties performing a denial-of-service (DOS) against OpenBao, we've made this endpoint authenticated. Thus it is strongly encouraged to generally allow all access to this path via ACLs.

MethodPath
POST/pki/revoke-with-key

Parameters​

warning

Note: either serial_number or certificate (but not both) must be specified on requests to this endpoint.

  • serial_number (string: <optional>) - Specifies the serial number of the certificate to revoke, in hyphen-separated or colon-separated hexadecimal.

  • certificate (string: <optional>) - Specifies the certificate to revoke, in PEM format. This certificate must have been signed by one of the issuers in this mount in order to be accepted for revocation.

  • private_key (string: <required>) - Specifies the private key (in PEM format) corresponding to the certificate issued by OpenBao that is attempted to be revoked. This endpoint must be called several times (with each unique certificate/serial number) if this private key is used in multiple certificates as OpenBao does not maintain such a mapping.

Sample payload​

{
  "serial_number": "39:dd:2e...",
  "private_key": "-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----\n..."
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/revoke-with-key

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "revocation_time": 1433269787
  }
}

List revoked certificates​

This endpoint returns a list of serial numbers that have been revoked on the local cluster.

MethodPath
LIST/certs/revoked

Parameters​

  • after (string: "") - Optional entry to begin listing after for pagination; not required to exist.

  • limit (int: 0) - Optional number of entries to return; defaults to all entries.

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request LIST \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/certs/revoked

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "keys": [
      "3d:80:91:c3:c2:34:3b:81:69:3d:92:a3:80:69:db:53:04:26:ab:b4"
    ]
  }
}

List revocation requests​

This endpoint returns a list of serial numbers that have been requested to be revoked on any cluster, along with information about the request's state and which cluster it originated on.

MethodPath
LIST/certs/revocation-queue

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request LIST \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/certs/revocation-queue

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "key_info": {
      "3d:80:91:c3:c2:34:3b:81:69:3d:92:a3:80:69:db:53:04:26:ab:b4": {
        "requesting_cluster": "48327b28-8325-6d79-6a0b-4cbaa6f27b4a"
      }
    },
    "keys": [
      "3d:80:91:c3:c2:34:3b:81:69:3d:92:a3:80:69:db:53:04:26:ab:b4"
    ]
  }
}

Accessing authority information​

All consumers of the PKI Secrets Engine mount point will have access to the following unauthenticated APIs, useful for reading information about the certificate authority in this mount point.

This includes information about CA certificates, their chains, and their signed CRLs, containing an encoded list of revoked certificates previously issued by this authority. Individual issued certificates can also be read, assuming their serial number is known. Finally, the list of issuing certificates is public information in this mount.

List issuers​

This endpoint returns a list of issuers currently provisioned in this mount. The response includes both the issuer's identifier as well as the name chosen by the operators; either can be used to refer to the issuer later.

This endpoint is unauthenticated.

MethodPath
LIST/pki/issuers

Parameters​

  • after (string: "") - Optional entry to begin listing after for pagination; not required to exist.

  • limit (int: 0) - Optional number of entries to return; defaults to all entries.

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --request LIST \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/issuers

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "key_info": {
      "1ae8ce9d-2f70-0761-a465-8c9840a247a2": {
        "issuer_name": "imported-root"
      },
      "3dc79a5a-7a6c-70e2-1123-94b88557ba12": {
        "issuer_name": "root-x1"
      }
    },
    "keys": [
      "1ae8ce9d-2f70-0761-a465-8c9840a247a2",
      "3dc79a5a-7a6c-70e2-1123-94b88557ba12"
    ]
  }
}

Read issuer certificate​

This endpoint retrieves the specified issuer's certificate.

Note that the response differs between the older /pki/cert/ca path and the newer /pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/json path; the latter includes the full ca_chain of the issuer, removing the need for a separate endpoint.

These are unauthenticated endpoints.

warning

Note: this endpoint accepts the If-Modified-Since header, to respond with 304 Not Modified when the requested resource has not changed. This header needs to be allowed on the PKI mount by tuning the passthrough_request_headers option. In order for clients to know the last modified time, the response header Last-Modified needs to be added to the mount tunable allowed_response_headers.

MethodPathIssuerFormat
GET/pki/cert/cadefaultJSON
GET/pki/cadefaultDER [1]
GET/pki/ca/pemdefaultPEM [1]
GET/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/jsonSelectedJSON
GET/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/derSelectedDER [1]
GET/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/pemSelectedPEM [1]

Parameters​

  • issuer_ref (string: <required>) - Reference to an existing issuer, either by OpenBao-generated identifier, the literal string default to refer to the currently configured default issuer, or the name assigned to an issuer. This parameter is part of the request URL.
warning

Note: This parameter is not present on the /pki/cert/ca and /pki/ca(/pem)? paths and takes the implicit value default.

Sample request​

$ curl \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/issuer/root-x1/json

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "ca_chain": [
      "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDFDCCAfygAwIBAgIUXgxy54mKooz5soqQoRINazH/3pQwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEL\n...",
      "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDFTCCAf2gAwIBAgIUUo/qwLm5AyqUWqFHw1MlgwUtS/kwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEL\n..."
    ],
    "certificate": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nnMIIDFDCCAfygAwIBAgIUXgxy54mKooz5soqQoRINazH/3pQwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEL...",
    "revocation_time": 0
  }
}

Read default issuer certificate chain​

This endpoint retrieves the default issuer's CA certificate chain, including the default issuer.

To read other issuers' chains, use the /pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/json endpoint instead.

These are unauthenticated endpoints.

MethodPathIssuerFormat
GET/pki/ca_chaindefaultPEM [1]
GET/pki/cert/ca_chaindefaultJSON
warning

Note: These endpoints return the full chain (including the default issuer's certificate and all parent issuers known to OpenBao) in these responses.

Sample request​

$ curl \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/ca_chain

Sample response​

<PEM-encoded certificate chain>

Read issuer CRL​

This endpoint retrieves the specified issuer's CRL.

Note that the response differs between the older /pki/cert/crl path and the newer /pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/crl path; the latter correctly places the PEM-encoded CRL in the crl field whereas the former incorrectly places it in the certificate field.

Endpoints with type complete are full CRLs containing all revoked certificates (as of the time of generation. Endpoints with type delta contain incremental CRLs on top of the last complete CRL, with any new certificates that have been revoked. See the revocation configuration section for more information about these options. The delta CRL clears when the next complete CRL is rebuilt. Consumers of delta CRLs will need to update their client to support fetching the corresponding full CRL when it has been regenerated; otherwise, some serial numbers may not appear in the local copy of the full CRL if the remote complete and delta CRLs has been regenerated.

Endpoints with source local only include cluster-local revocations.

These are unauthenticated endpoints.

warning

Note: These endpoints now serve a version 2 CRL response.

warning

Note: this endpoint accepts the If-Modified-Since header, to respond with 304 Not Modified when the requested resource has not changed. This header needs to be allowed on the PKI mount by tuning the passthrough_request_headers option. In order for clients to know the last modified time, the response header Last-Modified needs to be added to the mount tunable allowed_response_headers.

MethodPathIssuerFormatTypeSource
GET/pki/cert/crldefaultJSONCompleteLocal
GET/pki/crldefaultDER [1]CompleteLocal
GET/pki/crl/pemdefaultPEM [1]CompleteLocal
GET/pki/cert/delta-crldefaultJSONDeltaLocal
GET/pki/crl/deltadefaultDER [1]DeltaLocal
GET/pki/crl/delta/pemdefaultPEM [1]DeltaLocal
GET/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/crlSelectedJSONCompleteLocal
GET/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/crl/derSelectedDER [1]CompleteLocal
GET/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/crl/pemSelectedPEM [1]CompleteLocal
GET/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/crl/deltaSelectedJSONDeltaLocal
GET/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/crl/delta/derSelectedDER [1]DeltaLocal
GET/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/crl/delta/pemSelectedPEM [1]DeltaLocal

Parameters​

  • issuer_ref (string: <required>) - Reference to an existing issuer, either by OpenBao-generated identifier, the literal string default to refer to the currently configured default issuer, or the name assigned to an issuer. This parameter is part of the request URL.
warning

Note: This parameter is not present on the /pki/cert/crl and /pki/crl(/pem)? paths and takes the implicit value default.

Sample request​

$ curl \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/issuer/root-x1/crl

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "crl": "-----BEGIN X509 CRL-----\nMIIBizB1AgEBMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBCwUAMBIxEDAOBgNVBAMTB3Jvb3QgeDEXDTIy\n..."
  }
}

OCSP request​

This endpoint retrieves an OCSP response (revocation status) for a given serial number. The request/response formats are based on RFC 6960

Endpoints with source local only include cluster-local revocations.

At this time there are certain limitations of the OCSP implementation at this path:

  1. Only a single serial number within the request will appear in the response,
  2. None of the extensions defined in the RFC are supported for requests or responses,
  3. Ed25519 backed CA's are not supported for OCSP requests,
  4. Note that this API will not work with the OpenBao client as both request and responses are DER encoded, and
  5. Note that KMS based issuers which require PSS support are not supported either (such as PKCS#11 HSMs or GCP in certain scenarios).

These are unauthenticated endpoints.

MethodPathResponse FormatSource
GET/pki/ocsp/<base 64+URL encoded ocsp DER request>DER [1]Local
POST/pki/ocspDER [1]Local

Parameters​

  • None

Sample request​

openssl ocsp -no_nonce -issuer issuer.pem -CAfile ca_chain.pem -cert cert-to-revoke.pem -text -url $OPENBAO_ADDR/v1/pki/ocsp

List certificates​

This endpoint returns a list of the current certificates by serial number only. More details such as common_name, issuer, key_type, key_bits, not_after, not_before and up to 5 dns_names are found under /pki/certs/detailed.

The response does not include the special serial numbers (ca, ca_chain, and crl) that can be used with /pki/cert/:serial.

This includes only certificates issued by this mount with no_store=false. While root generation does create entries here, importing certificates (including both roots and intermediates) will not cause the imported certificate's serial number to appear in this list.

warning

Note: The endpoint to list all certificates is authenticated. This is to prevent automated enumeration of issued certificates for internal services; however, this information should generally be considered non-sensitive and the certificates themselves are exposed without authentication (provided their serial number is known).

Many Public CAs participate in the Certificate Transparency initiative, where all issued certificates are publicly disclosed in the interest of third-party verification of CA integrity.

MethodPath
LIST/pki/certs
LIST/pki/certs/detailed?detailed=true

Parameters​

  • after (string: "") - Optional entry to begin listing after for pagination; not required to exist.

  • limit (int: 0) - Optional number of entries to return; defaults to all entries.

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request LIST \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/certs

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "keys": [
      "17:67:16:b0:b9:45:58:c0:3a:29:e3:cb:d6:98:33:7a:a6:3b:66:c1",
      "26:0f:76:93:73:cb:3f:a0:7a:ff:97:85:42:48:3a:aa:e5:96:03:21"
    ]
  }
}

Read certificate​

This endpoint retrieves the certificate specified by its serial number, including issued certificates.

These are unauthenticated endpoints.

MethodPathFormat
GET/pki/cert/:serialJSON
GET/pki/cert/:serial/rawDER [1]
GET/pki/cert/:serial/raw/pemPEM [1]

Parameters​

  • serial (string: <required>) - Specifies the serial of the key to read. This is part of the request URL. Valid values for serial are:
  • <serial> for the certificate with the given serial number, in hyphen-separated or colon-separated hexadecimal.
  • ca for the default issuer's CA certificate
  • crl for the default issuer's CRL
  • ca_chain for the default issuer's CA trust chain.
warning

Note: These endpoints return the full chain (including this certificate and all parent issuers known to OpenBao) in the ca_chain response, for both the certificate and newer ca_chain fields.

Sample request​

$ curl \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/cert/67:b4:f7:2c:aa:ef:b9:30:f6:ae:f5:12:21:79:ac:08:8a:86:89:72

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "certificate": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIGmDCCBYCgAwIBAgIHBzEB3fTzhTANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQsFADCBjDELMAkGA1UE\n...",
    "revocation_time": 1667400107,
    "revocation_time_rfc3339": "2022-11-02T14:41:47.327515Z",
    "issuer_id": "e27bf456-51e1-d937-0001-4a609184fd9b"
  }
}

Managing keys and issuers​

The following endpoints are highly privileged and allow operators to generate or import new issuer certificates and keys, remove existing keys and issuers, or read internal information about keys and issuers.

List issuers​

Refer to the earlier section for more information about listing issuers.

List keys​

This endpoint returns a list of keys currently provisioned in this mount. The response includes both the key's identifier as well as the name chosen by the operators; either can be used to refer to the key later.

This endpoint is authenticated.

MethodPath
LIST/pki/keys

Parameters​

  • after (string: "") - Optional entry to begin listing after for pagination; not required to exist.

  • limit (int: 0) - Optional number of entries to return; defaults to all entries.

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request LIST \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/keys

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "key_info": {
      "f9244f54-adc7-4a5c-6b08-6ca3a3325620": {
        "key_name": "imported-root-key"
      },
    },
    "keys": [
      "f9244f54-adc7-4a5c-6b08-6ca3a3325620",
    ]
  }
}

Generate key​

This endpoint generates a new private key for use in the PKI mount. This key can be used with either the root or intermediate endpoints, using the type=existing variant.

If the path ends with exported, the private key will be returned in the response; if it is internal the private key will not be returned and cannot be retrieved later.

MethodPath
POST/pki/keys/generate/:type

Parameters​

  • type (string: <required>) - Specifies the type of the key to create. If exported, the private key will be returned in the response; if internal the private key will not be returned and cannot be retrieved later.

  • key_name (string: "") - When a new key is created with this request, optionally specifies the name for this. The global ref default may not be used as a name.

  • key_type (string: "rsa") - Specifies the desired key type; must be rsa, ed25519 or ec.

warning

Note: In FIPS 140-2 mode, the following algorithms are not certified and thus should not be used: ed25519.

  • key_bits (int: 0) - Specifies the number of bits to use for the generated keys. Allowed values are 0 (universal default); with key_type=rsa, allowed values are: 2048 (default), 3072, or 4096; with key_type=ec, allowed values are: 224, 256 (default), 384, or 521; ignored with key_type=ed25519.

Sample payload​

{
  "key_type": "ec",
  "key_bits": "256",
  "key_name": "root-key-2022"
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/keys/generate/internal

Sample response​

{
  "request_id": "8ad22b2f-7d14-f2cd-a10a-d1abc33676ab",
  "lease_id": "",
  "lease_duration": 0,
  "renewable": false,
  "data": {
    "key_id": "adda2443-a8aa-d181-9d07-07c7be6a76ab",
    "key_name": "root-key-2022",
    "key_type": "ec"
  },
  "warnings": null
}

Generate root​

This endpoint generates a new self-signed CA certificate and private key. If the path ends with exported, the private key will be returned in the response; if it is internal the private key will not be returned and cannot be retrieved later; if it is existing, the key specified by key_ref will be reused for this root.

This generated root will sign its own CRL. Authority Access distribution points use the values set via config/urls.

warning

Note: The PKI Secrets Engine supports multiple issuers under a single mount. Use the management operations in this section to list and modify issuers within this mount. No issuers will be overridden by calling this operation. Deleting individual keys and issuers should be preferred to calling DELETE /pki/root, which deletes everything.

MethodPath
POST/pki/root/generate/:type
POST/pki/issuers/generate/root/:type
POST/pki/root/rotate/:type

Parameters​

  • type (string: <required>) - Specifies the type of the root to create. If exported, the private key will be returned in the response; if internal the private key will not be returned and cannot be retrieved later; if existing, we use the value of the key_ref parameter to find existing key material to create the CSR. This parameter is part of the request URL.

  • issuer_name (string: "") - Provides a name to the specified issuer. The name must be unique across all issuers and not be the reserved value default. When no value is supplied and the path is /pki/root/rotate/:type, the default value of "next" will be used.

  • key_name (string: "") - When a new key is created with this request, optionally specifies the name for this. The global ref default may not be used as a name.

  • key_ref (string: "default") - Specifies the key (either default, by name, or by identifier) to use for generating this request. Only suitable for type=existing requests.

  • common_name (string: <required>) - Specifies the requested CN for the certificate. If more than one common_name is desired, specify the alternative names in the alt_names list.

  • alt_names (string: "") - Specifies the requested Subject Alternative Names, in a comma-delimited list. These can be host names or email addresses; they will be parsed into their respective fields.

  • ip_sans (string: "") - Specifies the requested IP Subject Alternative Names, in a comma-delimited list.

  • uri_sans (string: "") - Specifies the requested URI Subject Alternative Names, in a comma-delimited list.

  • other_sans (string: "") - Specifies custom OID/UTF8-string SANs. These must match values specified on the role in allowed_other_sans (see role creation for allowed_other_sans globbing rules). The format is the same as OpenSSL: <oid>;<type>:<value> where the only current valid type is UTF8. This can be a comma-delimited list or a JSON string slice.

  • ttl (string: "") - Specifies the requested Time To Live (after which the certificate will be expired). This cannot be larger than the engine's max (or, if not set, the system max). See not_after as an alternative for setting an absolute end date (rather than a relative one).

  • format (string: "pem") - Specifies the format for returned data. Can be pem, der, or pem_bundle. If der, the output is base64 encoded. If pem_bundle, the certificate field will contain the private key (if exported) and certificate, concatenated; if the issuing CA is not a OpenBao-derived self-signed root, this will be included as well.

  • private_key_format (string: "der") - Specifies the format for marshaling the private key within the private_key response field. Defaults to der which will return either base64-encoded DER or PEM-encoded DER, depending on the value of format. The other option is pkcs8 which will return the key marshalled as PEM-encoded PKCS8.

warning

Note that this does not apply to the private key within the certificate field if format=pem_bundle parameter is specified.

  • key_type (string: "rsa") - Specifies the desired key type; must be rsa, ed25519 or ec.
warning

Note: In FIPS 140-2 mode, the following algorithms are not certified and thus should not be used: ed25519.

  • key_bits (int: 0) - Specifies the number of bits to use for the generated keys. Allowed values are 0 (universal default); with key_type=rsa, allowed values are: 2048 (default), 3072, or 4096; with key_type=ec, allowed values are: 224, 256 (default), 384, or 521; ignored with key_type=ed25519.

  • max_path_length (int: -1) - Specifies the maximum path length to encode in the generated certificate. -1 means no limit. Unless the signing certificate has a maximum path length set, in which case the path length is set to one less than that of the signing certificate. A limit of 0 means a literal path length of zero.

  • exclude_cn_from_sans (bool: false) - If true, the given common_name will not be included in DNS or Email Subject Alternate Names (as appropriate). Useful if the CN is not a hostname or email address, but is instead some human-readable identifier.

  • permitted_dns_domains (string: "") - A comma separated string (or, string array) containing DNS domains for which certificates are allowed to be issued or signed by this CA certificate. Note that subdomains are allowed, as per RFC 5280 Section 4.2.1.10 - Name Constraints.

  • ou (string: "") - Specifies the OU (OrganizationalUnit) values in the subject field of the resulting certificate. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • organization (string: "") - Specifies the O (Organization) values in the subject field of the resulting certificate. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • country (string: "") - Specifies the C (Country) values in the subject field of the resulting certificate. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • locality (string: "") - Specifies the L (Locality) values in the subject field of the resulting certificate. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • province (string: "") - Specifies the ST (Province) values in the subject field of the resulting certificate. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • street_address (string: "") - Specifies the Street Address values in the subject field of the resulting certificate. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • postal_code (string: "") - Specifies the Postal Code values in the subject field of the resulting certificate. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • serial_number (string: "") - - Specifies the default Subject's named Serial Number value, if any. If you want more than one, specify alternative names in the alt_names map using OID 2.5.4.5. Note that this has no impact on the Certificate's serial number field, which OpenBao randomly generates.

  • not_before_duration (duration: "30s") - Specifies the duration by which to backdate the NotBefore property. This value has no impact in the validity period of the requested certificate, specified in the ttl field. Uses duration format strings.

  • not_before (string) - Set the Not Before field of the certificate with specified date value. The value format should be given in UTC format YYYY-MM-ddTHH:MM:SSZ. This value has no impact in the validity period of the requested certificate, specified in the ttl field.

  • not_after (string) - Set the Not After field of the certificate with specified date value. The value format should be given in UTC format YYYY-MM-ddTHH:MM:SSZ. Supports the Y10K end date for IEEE 802.1AR-2018 standard devices, 9999-12-31T23:59:59Z.

  • key_usage (list: ["KeyAgreement", "KeyEncipherment"]) - Specifies the default key usage constraint on the issued certificate. Valid values can be found at https://golang.org/pkg/crypto/x509/#KeyUsage - simply drop the KeyUsage part of the value. Values are not case-sensitive.

warning

Note: previous versions of this document incorrectly called this a constraint; this value is only used as a default when the KeyUsage extension is missing from the CSR.

  • ext_key_usage (list: []) - Specifies the default extended key usage constraint on the issued certificate. Valid values can be found at https://golang.org/pkg/crypto/x509/#ExtKeyUsage - simply drop the ExtKeyUsage part of the value. Values are not case-sensitive. To specify no key default usage constraints, set this to an empty list.
warning

Note: previous versions of this document incorrectly called this a constraint; this value is only used as a default when the ExtendedKeyUsage extension is missing from the CSR.

  • ext_key_usage_oids (string: "") - A comma-separated string or list of extended key usage oids.
warning

Note: This value is only used as a default when the ExtendedKeyUsage extension is missing from the CSR.

warning

Note: Keys of type rsa currently only support PKCS#1 v1.5 signatures.

Sample payload​

{
  "common_name": "example.com"
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/root/generate/internal

Sample response​

{
  "lease_id": "",
  "lease_duration": 0,
  "renewable": false,
  "data": {
    "expiration": "1654105687",
    "certificate": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDzDCCAragAwIBAgIUOd0ukLcjH43TfTHFG9qE0FtlMVgwCwYJKoZIhvcNAQEL\n...\numkqeYeO30g1uYvDuWLXVA==\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n",
    "issuing_ca": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDzDCCAragAwIBAgIUOd0ukLcjH43TfTHFG9qE0FtlMVgwCwYJKoZIhvcNAQEL\n...\numkqeYeO30g1uYvDuWLXVA==\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n",
    "serial_number": "39:dd:2e:90:b7:23:1f:8d:d3:7d:31:c5:1b:da:84:d0:5b:65:31:58",
    "issuer_id": "7b493f17-6c08-ff73-cf1a-99bfcc448a73",
    "issuer_name": "",
    "key_id": "22b82e37-529d-7251-7d78-3862bfd069ac",
    "key_name": ""
  },
  "auth": null
}

Generate intermediate CSR​

This endpoint returns a new CSR for signing, optionally generating a new private key. If using OpenBao as a root (and, like many other CAs), the various parameters on the final signed certificate are set at signing time and may or may not honor the parameters set here (and transmitted in the returned CSR).

The parameters below are mostly meant as a helper function; not all possible parameters that can be set in a CSR are supported in this request.

No new issuer is yet created by this call; note that a new key may be generated depending on the type request parameter.

warning

Note: In order to complete the intermediate generation, the CSR must be signed and the resulting certificate imported. This may involve working with external systems (such as an external or offline root CA) to transmit the CSR and complete the signing before the signed intermediate certificate is imported into this mount.

MethodPathPrivate key source (type)
POST/pki/intermediate/generate/:typespecified per request
POST/pki/issuers/generate/intermediate/:typespecified per request
POST/pki/intermediate/cross-signexisting

Parameters​

  • type (string: <required>) - Specifies the type of the intermediate to create. If exported, the private key will be returned in the response; if internal the private key will not be returned and cannot be retrieved later; if existing, we expect the key_ref parameter to use existing key material to create the CSR. This parameter is part of the request URL.

  • common_name (string: <required>) - Specifies the requested CN for the certificate. If more than one common_name is desired, specify the alternative names in the alt_names list.

  • alt_names (string: "") - Specifies the requested Subject Alternative Names, in a comma-delimited list. These can be host names or email addresses; they will be parsed into their respective fields.

  • ip_sans (string: "") - Specifies the requested IP Subject Alternative Names, in a comma-delimited list.

  • uri_sans (string: "") - Specifies the requested URI Subject Alternative Names, in a comma-delimited list.

  • other_sans (string: "") - Specifies custom OID/UTF8-string SANs. These must match values specified on the role in allowed_other_sans (see role creation for allowed_other_sans globbing rules). The format is the same as OpenSSL: <oid>;<type>:<value> where the only current valid type is UTF8. This can be a comma-delimited list or a JSON string slice.

  • format (string: "pem") - Specifies the format for returned data. This can be pem, der, or pem_bundle; defaults to pem. If der, the output is base64 encoded. If pem_bundle, the csr field will contain the private key (if exported) and CSR, concatenated.

  • private_key_format (string: "der") - Specifies the format for marshaling the private key within the private_key response field. Defaults to der which will return either base64-encoded DER or PEM-encoded DER, depending on the value of format. The other option is pkcs8 which will return the key marshalled as PEM-encoded PKCS8.

warning

Note that this does not apply to the private key within the certificate field if format=pem_bundle parameter is specified.

  • key_type (string: "rsa") - Specifies the desired key type; must be rsa, ed25519 or ec. Not suitable for type=existing requests.
warning

Note: In FIPS 140-2 mode, the following algorithms are not certified and thus should not be used: ed25519.

warning

Note: Keys of type rsa currently only support PKCS#1 v1.5 signatures.

  • key_bits (int: 0) - Specifies the number of bits to use for the generated keys. Allowed values are 0 (universal default); with key_type=rsa, allowed values are: 2048 (default), 3072, or 4096; with key_type=ec, allowed values are: 224, 256 (default), 384, or 521; ignored with key_type=ed25519. Not suitable for type=existing requests.

  • key_name (string: "") - When a new key is created with this request, optionally specifies the name for this. The global ref default may not be used as a name.

  • key_ref (string: "default") - Specifies the key (either default, by name, or by identifier) to use for generating this request. Only suitable for type=existing requests.

  • signature_bits (int: 0) - Specifies the number of bits to use in the signature algorithm; accepts 256 for SHA-2-256, 384 for SHA-2-384, and 512 for SHA-2-512. Defaults to 0 to automatically detect based on issuer's key length (SHA-2-256 for RSA keys, and matching the curve size for NIST P-Curves).

warning

Note: ECDSA and Ed25519 issuers do not follow configuration of the signature_bits value; only RSA issuers will change signature types based on this parameter.

  • exclude_cn_from_sans (bool: false) - If true, the given common_name will not be included in DNS or Email Subject Alternate Names (as appropriate). Useful if the CN is not a hostname or email address, but is instead some human-readable identifier.

  • ou (string: "") - Specifies the OU (OrganizationalUnit) values in the subject field of the resulting CSR. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • organization (string: "") - Specifies the O (Organization) values in the subject field of the resulting CSR. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • country (string: "") - Specifies the C (Country) values in the subject field of the resulting CSR. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • locality (string: "") - Specifies the L (Locality) values in the subject field of the resulting CSR. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • province (string: "") - Specifies the ST (Province) values in the subject field of the resulting CSR. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • street_address (string: "") - Specifies the Street Address values in the subject field of the resulting CSR. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • postal_code (string: "") - Specifies the Postal Code values in the subject field of the resulting CSR. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • serial_number (string: "") - Specifies the requested Subject's named Serial Number value, if any. If you want more than one, specify alternative names in the alt_names map using OID 2.5.4.5. Note that this has no impact on the Certificate's serial number field, which OpenBao randomly generates.

  • add_basic_constraints (bool: false) - Whether to add a Basic Constraints extension with CA: true. Only needed as a workaround in some compatibility scenarios with Active Directory Certificate Services.

Sample payload​

{
  "common_name": "www.example.com"
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/intermediate/generate/exported
{
  "lease_id": "",
  "renewable": false,
  "lease_duration": 0,
  "data": {
    "csr": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----\nMIIDzDCCAragAwIBAgIUOd0ukLcjH43TfTHFG9qE0FtlMVgwCwYJKoZIhvcNAQEL\n...\numkqeYeO30g1uYvDuWLXVA==\n-----END CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----\n",
    "private_key": "-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----\\nMIIEpAIBAAKCAQEAwsANtGz9gS3o5SwTSlOG1l-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----",
    "private_key_type": "rsa"
  },
  "warnings": null,
  "auth": null
}

Import CA certificates and keys​

This endpoint allows submitting (importing) the CA information for the backend via a PEM file containing the CA certificate and any private keys, concatenated together, in any order.

Each certificate will be validated to ensure it is a valid CA (has an asserted isCA basic constraint); non-CA certs will err. Any provided CRLs will be ignored. Each unique certificate and private key will be imported as its own issuer or key entry; duplicates (including with existing keys) will be ignored.

The response will indicate what issuers and keys were created as part of this request (in the imported_issuers and imported_keys), along with a mapping field, indicating which keys belong to which issuers (including from already imported entries present in the same bundle). The response also contains an existing_issuers and existing_keys fields, which specifies the issuer and key IDs of any entries in the bundle that already existed within this mount.

MethodPathAllows private keysRequest Parameter
POST/pki/config/cayespem_bundle
POST/pki/issuers/import/bundleyespem_bundle
POST/pki/issuers/import/certnopem_bundle
POST/pki/intermediate/set-signednocertificate
warning

Note: endpoints which allow importing private keys should be considered highly privileged and restricted appropriately. Endpoints which allow importing issuers should also be restricted, but note that issuers without keys are unable to issue certificates or CRLs.

warning

Note: OpenBao will deduplicate differently-encoded but same-valued keys and issuers. This means the returned certificate may differ in encoding from the one provided on subsequent re-imports of the same issuer or key.

warning

Note: This import may fail due to CRL rebuilding issues or other potential issues; this may impact long-term use of these issuers, but some issuers or keys may still be imported as a result of this process.

warning

Warning: See the note regarding Subject naming on externally created CA certificates and shortcomings with CRL building.

Parameters​

  • pem_bundle (string: <required>) - Specifies the unencrypted private key and certificate, concatenated in PEM format.
warning

Note: this parameter is on the /pki/config/ca and /pki/issuers/import/* paths; it is not on the /pki/intermediate/set-signed path.

  • certificate (string: <required>) - Specifies the certificates to import, concatenated in PEM format.
warning

Note: this parameter is only on the /pki/intermediate/set-signed path.

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data "@payload.json" \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/config/ca

Note that if you provide the data through the HTTP API, it must be JSON-formatted, with newlines replaced with \n, like so:

{
  "pem_bundle": "-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----\n...\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----"
}

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "imported_issuers": ["1ae8ce9d-2f70-0761-a465-8c9840a247a2"],
    "imported_keys": ["97be2525-717a-e2f7-88da-0a20e11aad88"],
    "mapping": {
      "1ae8ce9d-2f70-0761-a465-8c9840a247a2": "97be2525-717a-e2f7-88da-0a20e11aad88"
    },
    "existing_issuers": [],
    "existing_keys": []
  }
}

Read issuer​

This endpoint allows an operator to fetch a single issuer certificate and its chain, including internal information not exposed on the unauthenticated /pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/json endpoint. This includes information about the name, the key material, if an explicitly constructed chain has been set, what the behavior is for signing longer TTL'd certificates, and what usage modes are set on this issuer.

MethodPath
GET/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref

Parameters​

  • issuer_ref (string: <required>) - Reference to an existing issuer, either by OpenBao-generated identifier, the literal string default to refer to the currently configured default issuer, or the name assigned to an issuer. This parameter is part of the request URL.

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/issuer/default

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "ca_chain": [
      "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDFDCCAfygAwIBAgIUXgxy54mKooz5soqQoRINazH/3pQwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEL\n...",
      "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDFTCCAf2gAwIBAgIUUo/qwLm5AyqUWqFHw1MlgwUtS/kwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEL\n..."
    ],
    "certificate": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDFDCCAfygAwIBAgIUXgxy54mKooz5soqQoRINazH/3pQwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEL\n...",
    "issuer_id": "7545992c-1910-0898-9e64-d575549fbe9c",
    "issuer_name": "root-x1",
    "key_id": "baadd98d-ec5a-66ac-06b7-dfc91c02c9cf",
    "leaf_not_after_behavior": "truncate",
    "manual_chain": null,
    "usage": "read-only,issuing-certificates,crl-signing,ocsp-signing"
  }
}

Update issuer​

This endpoint allows an operator to manage a single issuer, updating various properties about it, including its name, an explicitly constructed chain, what the behavior is for signing longer TTL'd certificates, and what usage modes are set on this issuer.

Note that it is not possible to change the certificate of this issuer; to do so, import a new issuer and a new issuer_id will be assigned.

MethodPath
POST/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref
PATCH/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref
warning

Note POSTing to this endpoint causes OpenBao to overwrite the previous contents of the issuer, using the provided request data (and any defaults for elided parameters). It does not update only the provided fields.

OpenBao supports the PATCH operation to this endpoint, using the JSON patch format supported by KVv2, allowing update of specific fields. Note that bao write uses POST.

Parameters​

  • issuer_ref (string: <required>) - Reference to an existing issuer, either by OpenBao-generated identifier, the literal string default to refer to the currently configured default issuer, or the name assigned to an issuer. This parameter is part of the request URL.

  • issuer_name (string: "") - Provides a name to the specified issuer. The name must be unique across all issuers and not be the reserved value default.

  • leaf_not_after_behavior (string: "err") - Behavior of a leaf's NotAfter field during issuance. Valid options are:

    • err, to error if the computed NotAfter exceeds that of this issuer;
    • truncate to silently truncate the requested NotAfter value to that of this issuer; or
    • permit to allow this issuance to succeed with a NotAfter value exceeding that of this issuer.
warning

Note: Not all values result in leaf certificates that can be validated through the entire validity period. It is suggested to use truncate for intermediate CAs and permit only for root CAs. This is because (root) certificates in browsers' trust stores typically aren't checked for validity, whereas intermediate CA certificates sent in TLS connections are checked for validity at the time of use. This means that a leaf certificate permitted to be issued for longer than the intermediate likely won't continue to validate after the intermediate has expired.

  • manual_chain ([]string: nil) - Chain of issuer references to build this issuer's computed CAChain field from, when non-empty.
warning

Note: the manual_chain field is an advanced field useful when automatic chain building isn't desired. The first element must be the present issuer's reference. Subsequent references should validate previous entries, terminating with a root certificate. Ideally a single linear chain would come first (from this issuer to a single root certificate) before any parallel, alternate chains appear.

This field is especially useful for cross-signed intermediates within OpenBao. Because each cross-signed intermediate will only know of the one root, but issuance should serve both, update the issuers' entries with the desired manual_chain value.

The CA Chain returned by a GET to the issuer configuration is the same chain presented during signing and (if this issuer is the default) on the /ca_chain path. Setting manual_chain thus allows controlling the presented chain as desired.

  • usage ([]string: read-only,issuing-certificates,crl-signing,ocsp-signing) - Allowed usages for this issuer. Valid options are:

    • read-only, to allow this issuer to be read; implict; always allowed;
    • issuing-certificates, to allow this issuer to be used for issuing other certificates; or
    • crl-signing, to allow this issuer to be used for signing CRLs. This is separate from the CRLSign KeyUsage on the x509 certificate, but this usage cannot be set unless that KeyUsage is allowed on the x509 certificate.
    • ocsp-signing, to allow this issuer to be used for signing OCSP responses
warning

Note: The usage field allows for a soft-delete capability on the issuer, or to prevent use of the issuer prior to it being enabled. For example, as issuance is rotated to a new issuer, the old issuer could be marked usage=read-only,crl-signing,ocsp-signing, allowing existing certificates to be revoked (and the CRL updated), but preventing new certificate issuance. After all certificates issued under this certificate have expired, this certificate could be marked usage=read-only, freezing the CRL. Finally, after a grace period, the issuer could be deleted.

  • revocation_signature_algorithm (string: "") - Which signature algorithm to use when building CRLs. See Go's x509.SignatureAlgorithm constant for possible values. This flag allows control over hash function and signature scheme (PKCS#1v1.5 vs PSS). The default (empty string) value is for Go to select the signature algorithm automatically, which may not always work.
warning

Note: This can fail if the underlying key does not support the requested signature algorithm; this may not always be known at modification time.

  • issuing_certificates (array<string>: nil) - Specifies the URL values for the Issuing Certificate field. This can be an array or a comma-separated string list. See also RFC 5280 Section 4.2.2.1 for information about the Authority Information Access field.

  • crl_distribution_points (array<string>: nil) - Specifies the URL values for the CRL Distribution Points field. This can be an array or a comma-separated string list. See also RFC 5280 Section 4.2.1.13 for information about the CRL Distribution Points field.

warning

Note: When multiple issuers are in use under a single mount, each issuer will have its own CRL distribution point. These separate CRLs should either be aggregated into a single CRL (externally; as OpenBao does not support this functionality) or multiple crl_distribution_points and delta_crl_distribution_points values should be specified here, pointing to each cluster and issuer.

  • delta_crl_distribution_points (array<string>: nil) - Specifies the URL values for the Delta CRL Distribution Points field. This can be an array or a comma-separated string list. See also RFC 5280 Section 4.2.1.15 and Section 5.2.6 for information about the Delta CRL Distribution Points field.

  • ocsp_servers (array<string>: nil) - Specifies the URL values for the OCSP Servers field. This can be an array or a comma-separated string list. See also RFC 5280 Section 4.2.2.1 for information about the Authority Information Access field.

  • enable_aia_url_templating (bool: false) - Specifies that the above AIA URL values (issuing_certificates, crl_distribution_points, delta_crl_distribution_points, and ocsp_servers) should be templated. This replaces the literal value {{issuer_id}} with the ID of the issuer doing the issuance, the literal value {{cluster_path}} with the value of path from the cluster-local configuration endpoint /config/cluster, and the literal value {{cluster_aia_path}} with the value of aia_path from the cluster-local configuration endpoint /config/cluster.

warning

Note: If no cluster-local address is present and templating is used, issuance will fail.

Sample payload​

{
  "issuer_name": "root-x1"
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/issuer/default

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "ca_chain": [
      "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDFDCCAfygAwIBAgIUXgxy54mKooz5soqQoRINazH/3pQwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEL\n...",
      "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDFTCCAf2gAwIBAgIUUo/qwLm5AyqUWqFHw1MlgwUtS/kwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEL\n..."
    ],
    "certificate": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDFDCCAfygAwIBAgIUXgxy54mKooz5soqQoRINazH/3pQwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEL\n...",
    "issuer_id": "7545992c-1910-0898-9e64-d575549fbe9c",
    "issuer_name": "root-x1",
    "key_id": "baadd98d-ec5a-66ac-06b7-dfc91c02c9cf",
    "leaf_not_after_behavior": "truncate",
    "manual_chain": null,
    "usage": "read-only,issuing-certificates,crl-signing,ocsp-signing",
    "revocation_signature_algorithm": "",
    "issuing_certificates": ["<url1>", "<url2>"],
    "crl_distribution_points": ["<url1>", "<url2>"],
    "delta_crl_distribution_points": ["<url1>", "<url2>"],
    "ocsp_servers": ["<url1>", "<url2>"]
  }
}

Revoke issuer​

This endpoint allows an operator to revoke an issuer certificate, marking it unable to issue new certificates and adding it to other issuers' CRLs, if they have signed this issuer's certificate. This will cause all CRLs to be rebuilt.

This is mostly provided for book-keeping and as a soft-delete feature, to ensure this issuer is not accidentally reused in the future.

warning

Warning: This operation cannot be undone!

warning

Note: This operation does not have any impact on other clusters or mounts and may not have any impact on whether clients consider these issuers revoked. Revoked issuers will not appear on their own CRLs. Revoked issuers may not appear on other CRLs if a suitable parent is not present in the same mount point. Revoked issuers will still need to be revoked in any other mounts they appear in, both as issuers, in the event of issuer reuse, and as issued certificates, in the event of an external parent mount.

MethodPath
POST/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/revoke

Parameters​

No parameters.

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/issuer/old-intermediate/revoke

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "ca_chain": [
      "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDFDCCAfygAwIBAgIUXgxy54mKooz5soqQoRINazH/3pQwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEL\n...",
      "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDFTCCAf2gAwIBAgIUUo/qwLm5AyqUWqFHw1MlgwUtS/kwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEL\n..."
    ],
    "certificate": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDFDCCAfygAwIBAgIUXgxy54mKooz5soqQoRINazH/3pQwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEL\n...",
    "issuer_id": "7545992c-1910-0898-9e64-d575549fbe9c",
    "issuer_name": "old-intermediate",
    "key_id": "baadd98d-ec5a-66ac-06b7-dfc91c02c9cf",
    "leaf_not_after_behavior": "truncate",
    "manual_chain": null,
    "usage": "read-only,issuing-certificates,crl-signing"
    "revocation_time": 1433269787,
  }
}

Delete issuer​

This endpoint deletes the specified issuer. A warning is emitted and the default is cleared if this issuer is the default issuer.

warning

Note: If an issuer is incorrectly deleted, but its key material remains, it is possible to re-import just the issuer certificate. The issuer_id will change, but the name can be re-assigned to the new issuer.

MethodPath
DELETE/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request DELETE \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/issuer/root-x1

Import key​

This endpoint allows an operator to import a single pem encoded rsa, ec, or ed25519 key.

warning

Note: This API does not protect against importing keys using insecure combinations of algorithm and key length.

MethodPath
POST/pki/keys/import

Parameters​

  • pem_bundle (string: <required>) - Specifies the unencrypted private key in PEM format.

  • key_name (string: "") - Provides a name to the specified key. The name must be unique across all keys and not be the reserved value default.

Sample payload​

{
  "key_name": "my-imported-key",
  "pem_bundle": "-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----\n...\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----"
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/keys/import

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "key_id": "2cf03991-b052-1dc3-393e-374b41f8dcd8",
    "key_name": "my-imported-key",
    "key_type": "rsa"
  },
}

Read key​

This endpoint allows an operator to fetch information about an existing key.

warning

Note: OpenBao does not allow reading the value of the private key after it has been created.

MethodPath
GET/pki/key/:key_ref

Parameters​

  • key_ref (string: <required>) - Reference to an existing key, either by OpenBao-generated identifier, the literal string default to refer to the currently configured default key, or the name assigned to a key. This parameter is part of the request URL.

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/key/default

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "key_id": "8c4046f8-52a8-0974-29d2-745d8a0dd848",
    "key_name": "key-root-x1",
    "key_type": "rsa"
  }
}

Update key​

This endpoint allows an operator to manage a single key. Currently, the only parameter that is configurable is the key's name.

Note that it is not possible to change the private key of this key; to do so, import a new key and a new key_id will be assigned.

MethodPath
POST/pki/key/:key_ref
warning

Note POSTing to this endpoint causes OpenBao to overwrite the previous contents of the key, using the provided request data (and any defaults for elided parameters). It does not update only the provided fields.

Parameters​

  • key_ref (string: <required>) - Reference to an existing key, either by OpenBao-generated identifier, the literal string default to refer to the currently configured default key, or the name assigned to a key. This parameter is part of the request URL.

  • key_name (string: "") - Provides a name to the specified key. The name must be unique across all keys and not be the reserved value default.

Sample payload​

{
  "key_name": "key-root-x1"
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/key/default

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "key_id": "8c4046f8-52a8-0974-29d2-745d8a0dd848",
    "key_name": "key-root-x1",
    "key_type": "rsa"
  }
}

Delete key​

This endpoint deletes the specified key. A warning is emitted and the default is cleared if this key is the default key.

warning

Note: Because OpenBao does not allow exporting the private key after it is initially generated, deletion of keys is a sensitive operation. Additionally, one key may be used by more than one issuer. As a result, OpenBao prohibits deletion of keys until all issuers using this key have also been deleted. If these issuers are still necessary for chain building, re-import them without the corresponding keys after the key has been deleted or use the soft-delete feature of issuers.

MethodPath
DELETE/pki/key/:key_ref

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request DELETE \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/key/key-root-x1

Delete all issuers and keys​

This endpoint deletes all issuers and keys within the mount. It is highly recommended to use the individual delete operations instead. This mount will be unusable until new issuers and keys are provisioned.

This endpoint requires sudo/root privileges.

MethodPath
DELETE/pki/root

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request DELETE \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/root

Managing authority information​

The following privileged endpoints allow the operator to control information about the core contents of certificates and to perform privileged operations like rotating the CRLs or performing tidy operations.

List roles​

Refer to the earlier section for more information about listing roles.

Create/Update role​

This endpoint creates or updates the role definition. Note that the allowed_domains, allow_subdomains, allow_glob_domains, and allow_any_name attributes are additive; between them nearly and across multiple roles nearly any issuing policy can be accommodated.

Handling of ExtKeyUsage on the issued leaf is complex: if any of server_flag, client_flag, code_signing_flag, or email_protection_flag are set, they are added to the generated ExtKeyUsage value. Then names in the ext_key_usage field are added, followed by OIDs from ext_key_usage_oids. This can result in issuance of certificates with unexpected ExtKeyUsage values, as e.g., server_flag and client_flag default to true and need to be manually disabled before ext_key_usage and ext_key_usage_oids will be respected.

If a client requests a certificate that is not allowed by the CN policy in the role, the request is denied.

MethodPath
POST/pki/roles/:name
PATCH/pki/roles/:name
warning

Note POSTing to this endpoint when the role already exists causes OpenBao to overwrite the contents of the role, using the provided request data (and any defaults for elided parameters). It does not update only the provided fields.

OpenBao supports the PATCH operation to this endpoint, using the JSON patch format supported by KVv2, allowing update of specific fields. Note that bao write uses POST.

Parameters​

  • name (string: <required>) - Specifies the name of the role to create. This is part of the request URL.

  • issuer_ref: (string: "default") - Specifies the default issuer of this request. May be the value default, a name, or an issuer ID. Use ACLs to prevent access to the /pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/{issue,sign}/:name paths to prevent users overriding the role's issuer_ref value.

warning

Note: This parameter is stored as-is; if the reference is to a name, it is not resolve to an identifier. Deletion of issuers (or updating their names) may result in issuance failing or using an unexpected issuer.

warning

Note: existing roles from previous OpenBao versions are migrated to use the issuer_ref=default.

  • ttl (string: "") - Specifies the Time To Live value to be used for the validity period of the requested certificate, provided as a string duration with time suffix. Hour is the largest suffix. The value specified is strictly used for future validity. If not set, uses the system default value or the value of max_ttl, whichever is shorter. See not_after as an alternative for setting an absolute end date (rather than a relative one).

  • max_ttl (string: "") - Specifies the maximum Time To Live provided as a string duration with time suffix. Hour is the largest suffix. If not set, defaults to the system maximum lease TTL.

  • allow_localhost (bool: true) - Specifies if clients can request certificates for localhost as one of the requested common names. This is useful for testing and to allow clients on a single host to talk securely.

warning

Note: This strictly applies to localhost and localdomain when this option is enabled. Additionally, even if this option is disabled, if either name is included in allowed_domains, the match rules for that option could permit issuance of a certificate for localhost.

  • allowed_domains (list: []) - Specifies the domains this role is allowed to issue certificates for. This is used with the allow_bare_domains, allow_subdomains, and allow_glob_domains options to determine the type of matching between these domains and the values of common name, DNS-typed SAN entries, and Email-typed SAN entries. When allow_any_name is used, this attribute has no effect.
warning

Note: The three options allow_bare_domains, allow_subdomains, and allow_glob_domains are each independent of each other. That is, at least one type of allowed matching must describe the relationship between the allowed_domains list and the names on the issued certificate. For example, given allowed_domain=foo.*.example.com and allow_subdomains=true and allow_glob_domains=true, a request for bar.foo.baz.example.com won't be permitted, even though it foo.baz.example.com matches the glob foo.*.example.com and bar is a subdomain of that.

  • allowed_domains_template (bool: false) - When set, allowed_domains may contain templates, as with ACL Path Templating. Non-templated domains are also still permitted.

  • allow_bare_domains (bool: false) - Specifies if clients can request certificates matching the value of the actual domains themselves; e.g. if a configured domain set with allowed_domains is example.com, this allows clients to actually request a certificate containing the name example.com as one of the DNS values on the final certificate. In some scenarios, this can be considered a security risk. Note that when an allowed_domain field contains a potential wildcard character (for example, allowed_domains=*.example.com) and allow_bare_domains and allow_wildcard_certificates are both enabled, issuance of a wildcard certificate for *.example.com will be permitted.

  • allow_subdomains (bool: false) - Specifies if clients can request certificates with CNs that are subdomains of the CNs allowed by the other role options. This includes wildcard subdomains. For example, an allowed_domains value of example.com with this option set to true will allow foo.example.com and bar.example.com as well as *.example.com. To restrict issuance of wildcards by this option, see allow_wildcard_certificates below. This option is redundant when using the allow_any_name option.

  • allow_glob_domains (bool: false) - Allows names specified in allowed_domains to contain glob patterns (e.g. ftp*.example.com). Clients will be allowed to request certificates with names matching the glob patterns.

warning

Note: These globs behave like shell-style globs and can match across multiple domain parts. For example, allowed_domains=*.example.com with allow_glob_domains enabled will match not only foo.example.com but also baz.bar.foo.example.com.

warning

Warning: Glob patterns will match wildcard domains and permit their issuance unless otherwise restricted by allow_wildcard_certificates. For instance, with allowed_domains=*.*.example.com and both allow_glob_domains and allow_wildcard_certificates enabled, we will permit the issuance of a wildcard certificate for *.foo.example.com.

  • allow_wildcard_certificates (bool: true) - Allows the issuance of certificates with RFC 6125 wildcards in the CN field. When set to false, this prevents wildcards from being issued even if they would've been allowed by an option above. We support the following four wildcard types:

    • *.example.com, a single wildcard as the entire left-most label,
    • foo*.example.com, a single suffixed wildcard in the left-most label,
    • *foo.example.com, a single prefixed wildcard in the left-most label, and
    • f*o.example.com, a single interior wildcard in the left-most label.

  • allow_any_name (bool: false) - Specifies if clients can request any CN. Useful in some circumstances, but make sure you understand whether it is appropriate for your installation before enabling it. Note that both enforce_hostnames and allow_wildcard_certificates are still checked, which may introduce limitations on issuance with this option.

  • enforce_hostnames (bool: true) - Specifies if only valid host names are allowed for CNs, DNS SANs, and the host part of email addresses.

  • allow_ip_sans (bool: true) - Specifies if clients can request IP Subject Alternative Names. No authorization checking is performed except to verify that the given values are valid IP addresses.

  • allowed_uri_sans (string: "") - Defines allowed URI Subject Alternative Names. No authorization checking is performed except to verify that the given values are valid URIs. This can be a comma-delimited list or a JSON string slice. Values can contain glob patterns (e.g. spiffe://hostname/*).

  • allowed_uri_sans_template (bool: false) - When set, allowed_uri_sans may contain templates, as with ACL Path Templating. Non-templated domains are also still permitted.

  • allowed_other_sans (string: "") - Defines allowed custom OID/UTF8-string SANs. This can be a comma-delimited list or a JSON string slice, where each element has the same format as OpenSSL: <oid>;<type>:<value>, but the only valid type is UTF8 or UTF-8. The value part of an element may be a * to allow any value with that OID. Alternatively, specifying a single * will allow any other_sans input.

  • allowed_serial_numbers (string: "") - If set, an array of allowed serial numbers to be requested during certificate issuance. These values support shell-style globbing. When empty, custom-specified serial numbers will be forbidden. It is strongly recommended to allow OpenBao to generate random serial numbers instead.

  • server_flag (bool: true) - Specifies if certificates are flagged for server authentication use. See RFC 5280 Section 4.2.1.12 for information about the Extended Key Usage field.

  • client_flag (bool: true) - Specifies if certificates are flagged for client authentication use. See RFC 5280 Section 4.2.1.12 for information about the Extended Key Usage field.

  • code_signing_flag (bool: false) - Specifies if certificates are flagged for code signing use. See RFC 5280 Section 4.2.1.12 for information about the Extended Key Usage field.

  • email_protection_flag (bool: false) - Specifies if certificates are flagged for email protection use. See RFC 5280 Section 4.2.1.12 for information about the Extended Key Usage field.

  • key_type (string: "rsa") - Specifies the type of key to generate for generated private keys and the type of key expected for submitted CSRs. Currently, rsa, ec, and ed25519 are supported, or when signing existing CSRs, any can be specified to allow keys of either type and with any bit size (subject to >=2048 bits for RSA keys or >= 224 for EC keys). When any is used, this role cannot generate certificates and can only be used to sign CSRs.

warning

Note: In FIPS 140-2 mode, the following algorithms are not certified and thus should not be used: ed25519.

  • key_bits (int: 0) - Specifies the number of bits to use for the generated keys. Allowed values are 0 (universal default); with key_type=rsa, allowed values are: 2048 (default), 3072, or 4096; with key_type=ec, allowed values are: 224, 256 (default), 384, or 521; ignored with key_type=ed25519 or in signing operations when key_type=any.

  • signature_bits (int: 0) - Specifies the number of bits to use in the signature algorithm; accepts 256 for SHA-2-256, 384 for SHA-2-384, and 512 for SHA-2-512. Defaults to 0 to automatically detect based on issuer's key length (SHA-2-256 for RSA keys, and matching the curve size for NIST P-Curves).

warning

Note: ECDSA and Ed25519 issuers do not follow configuration of the signature_bits value; only RSA issuers will change signature types based on this parameter.

  • use_pss (bool: false) - Specifies whether or not to use PSS signatures over PKCS#1v1.5 signatures when a RSA-type issuer is used. Ignored for ECDSA/Ed25519 issuers.

  • key_usage (list: ["DigitalSignature", "KeyAgreement", "KeyEncipherment"]) - Specifies the allowed key usage constraint on issued certificates. Valid values can be found at https://golang.org/pkg/crypto/x509/#KeyUsage - simply drop the KeyUsage part of the value. Values are not case-sensitive. To specify no key usage constraints, set this to an empty list. See RFC 5280 Section 4.2.1.3 for more information about the Key Usage field.

  • ext_key_usage (list: []) - Specifies the allowed extended key usage constraint on issued certificates. Valid values can be found at https://golang.org/pkg/crypto/x509/#ExtKeyUsage - simply drop the ExtKeyUsage part of the value. Values are not case-sensitive. To specify no key usage constraints, set this to an empty list. See RFC 5280 Section 4.2.1.12 for information about the Extended Key Usage field.

  • ext_key_usage_oids (string: "") - A comma-separated string or list of extended key usage oids. Useful for adding EKUs not supported by the Go standard library.

  • use_csr_common_name (bool: true) - When used with the CSR signing endpoint, the common name in the CSR will be used instead of taken from the JSON data. This does not include any requested SANs in the CSR; use use_csr_sans for that.

  • use_csr_sans (bool: true) - When used with the CSR signing endpoint, the subject alternate names in the CSR will be used instead of taken from the JSON data. This does not include the common name in the CSR; use use_csr_common_name for that.

  • ou (string: "") - Specifies the OU (OrganizationalUnit) values in the subject field of issued certificates. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • organization (string: "") - Specifies the O (Organization) values in the subject field of issued certificates. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • country (string: "") - Specifies the C (Country) values in the subject field of issued certificates. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • locality (string: "") - Specifies the L (Locality) values in the subject field of issued certificates. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • province (string: "") - Specifies the ST (Province) values in the subject field of issued certificates. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • street_address (string: "") - Specifies the Street Address values in the subject field of issued certificates. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • postal_code (string: "") - Specifies the Postal Code values in the subject field of issued certificates. This is a comma-separated string or JSON array.

  • generate_lease (bool: false) - Specifies if certificates issued/signed against this role will have OpenBao leases attached to them. Certificates can be added to the CRL by openbao revoke <lease_id> when certificates are associated with leases. It can also be done using the pki/revoke endpoint. However, when lease generation is disabled, invoking pki/revoke would be the only way to add the certificates to the CRL. When large number of certificates are generated with long lifetimes, it is recommended that lease generation be disabled, as large amount of leases adversely affect the startup time of OpenBao.

  • no_store (bool: false) - If set, certificates issued/signed against this role will not be stored in the storage backend. This can improve performance when issuing large numbers of certificates. However, certificates issued in this way cannot be enumerated or revoked via serial number. Certificates may still be revoked via BYOC revocation. This option is recommend only for certificates that are non-sensitive, extremely short-lived, or have high volume/turn-over that would prohibit storage. This option implies a value of false for generate_lease.

  • require_cn (bool: true) - If set to false, makes the common_name field optional while generating a certificate.

  • policy_identifiers (list: []) - A comma-separated string or list of policy OIDs.

  • basic_constraints_valid_for_non_ca (bool: false) - Mark Basic Constraints valid when issuing non-CA certificates.

  • not_before_duration (duration: "30s") - Specifies the duration by which to backdate the NotBefore property. This value has no impact in the validity period of the requested certificate, specified in the ttl field.

  • not_before (string) - Set the Not Before field of the certificate with specified date value. The value format should be given in UTC format YYYY-MM-ddTHH:MM:SSZ. This value has no impact in the validity period of the requested certificate, specified in the ttl field.

  • not_after (string) - Set the Not After field of the certificate with specified date value. The value format should be given in UTC format YYYY-MM-ddTHH:MM:SSZ. Supports the Y10K end date for IEEE 802.1AR-2018 standard devices, 9999-12-31T23:59:59Z.

  • cn_validations (list: ["email", "hostname"]) - Validations to run on the Common Name field of the certificate. Valid values include:

    • email, to ensure the Common Name is an email address (contains an @ sign),
    • hostname, to ensure the Common Name is a hostname (otherwise).

    Multiple values can be separated with a comma or specified as a list and use OR semantics (either email or hostname in the CN are allowed). When the special value "disabled" is used (must be specified alone), none of the usual validation is run (including but not limited to allowed_domains and basic correctness validation around email addresses and domain names). This allows non-standard CNs to be used verbatim from the request.

  • allowed_user_ids (string: "") - Comma separated, globbing list of User ID Subject components to allow on requests. By default, no user IDs are allowed. Use the bare wildcard * value to allow any value. See also the user_ids request parameter.

Sample payload​

{
  "allowed_domains": ["example.com"],
  "allow_subdomains": true
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/roles/my-role

Read role​

Refer to the earlier section for more information about reading roles.

Delete role​

This endpoint deletes the role definition. Deleting a role does not revoke certificates previously issued under this role.

MethodPath
DELETE/pki/roles/:name

Parameters​

  • name (string: <required>) - Specifies the name of the role to delete. This is part of the request URL.

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request DELETE \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/roles/my-role

Read URLs​

This endpoint fetches the URLs to be encoded in generated certificates. No URL configuration will be returned until the configuration is set.

MethodPath
GET/pki/config/urls

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/config/urls

Sample response​

{
  "lease_id": "",
  "renewable": false,
  "lease_duration": 0,
  "data": {
    "issuing_certificates": ["<url1>", "<url2>"],
    "crl_distribution_points": ["<url1>", "<url2>"],
    "delta_crl_distribution_points": ["<url1>", "<url2>"],
    "ocsp_servers": ["<url1>", "<url2>"]
  },
  "auth": null
}

Set URLs​

This endpoint allows setting the issuing certificate endpoints, CRL distribution points, and OCSP server endpoints that will be encoded into issued certificates. You can update any of the values at any time without affecting the other existing values. To remove the values, simply use a blank string as the parameter.

MethodPath
POST/pki/config/urls
warning

Note: When using multiple issuers within the same mount, it is strongly suggested to use the per-issuer AIA information instead of the global AIA information. If any of the per-issuer AIA fields are set, the entire issuer's preferences will be used instead. Otherwise, these fields are used as a fallback.

This can be achieved by using templated global AIA values, but setting the cluster-local address in configuration.

Parameters​

  • issuing_certificates (array<string>: nil) - Specifies the URL values for the Issuing Certificate field. This can be an array or a comma-separated string list. See also RFC 5280 Section 4.2.2.1 for information about the Authority Information Access field.

  • crl_distribution_points (array<string>: nil) - Specifies the URL values for the CRL Distribution Points field. This can be an array or a comma-separated string list. See also RFC 5280 Section 4.2.1.13 for information about the CRL Distribution Points field.

warning

Note: When multiple issuers are in use under a single mount, each issuer will have its own CRL distribution point. These separate CRLs should either be aggregated into a single CRL (externally; as OpenBao does not support this functionality) or multiple crl_distribution_points and delta_crl_distribution_points values should be specified here, pointing to each cluster and issuer.

  • delta_crl_distribution_points (array<string>: nil) - Specifies the URL values for the Delta CRL Distribution Points field. This can be an array or a comma-separated string list. See also RFC 5280 Section 4.2.1.15 and Section 5.2.6 for information about the Delta CRL Distribution Points field.

  • ocsp_servers (array<string>: nil) - Specifies the URL values for the OCSP Servers field. This can be an array or a comma-separated string list. See also RFC 5280 Section 4.2.2.1 for information about the Authority Information Access field.

  • enable_templating (bool: false) - Specifies that the above AIA URL values (issuing_certificates, crl_distribution_points, delta_crl_distribution_points and ocsp_servers) should be templated. This replaces the literal value {{issuer_id}} with the ID of the issuer doing the issuance, the literal value {{cluster_path}} with the value of path from the cluster-local configuration endpoint /config/cluster, and the literal value {{cluster_aia_path}} with the value of aia_path from the cluster-local configuration endpoint /config/cluster.

    For example, the following values can be used globally to ensure all AIA URIs use the cluster-local, per-issuer canonical reference, but with the issuing CA certificate and CRL distribution points to potentially use an external, non-OpenBao CDN.

    • issuing_certificates={{cluster_aia_path}}/issuer/{{issuer_id}}/der
    • crl_distribution_points={{cluster_aia_path}}/issuer/{{issuer_id}}/crl/der
    • delta_crl_distribution_points={{cluster_aia_path}}/issuer/{{issuer_id}}/crl/delta/der
    • ocsp_servers={{cluster_aia_path}}/ocsp
warning

Note: If no cluster-local address is present and templating is used, issuance will fail.

Sample payload​

{
  "issuing_certificates": ["{{cluster_aia_path}}/issuer/{{issuer_id}}/der"],
  "crl_distribution_points": ["{{cluster_aia_path}}/issuer/{{issuer_id}}/crl/der"],
  "delta_crl_distribution_points": ["{{cluster_aia_path}}/issuer/{{issuer_id}}/crl/delta/der"],
  "ocsp_servers": ["{{cluster_aia_path}}/ocsp"]
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/config/urls

Read issuers configuration​

This endpoint allows getting the value of the default issuer.

MethodPath
GET/pki/config/issuers

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/config/issuers

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "default": "3dc79a5a-7a6c-70e2-1123-94b88557ba12",
    "default_follows_latest_issuer": "false"
  }
}

Set issuers configuration​

This endpoint allows setting the value of the default issuer.

MethodPath
POST/pki/config/issuers
POST/pki/root/replace

Parameters​

  • default (string: "") - Specifies the default issuer (by reference; either a name or an ID). When no value is specified and the path is /pki/root/replace, the default value of "next" will be used.

  • default_follows_latest_issuer (bool: false) - Specifies whether a root creation or an issuer import operation updates the default issuer to the newly added issuer.

    While the new multi-issuer functionality of 1.11 was backwards compatible on a per-API basis, some applications relied explicitly on unsafe behavior across multiple APIs that we addressed. For instance, calling /intermediate/generate/:type would silently remove any (potentially in-use!) key material and generate new private keys. While our response to this endpoint is backwards compatible (returning a new key and safely preserving old keys), some applications implicitly relied on this behavior. This new option is meant to provide compatibility across API calls to these callers: the newly created issuer (once imported -- not on intermediate generation) will become the default and it will look (to anyone strictly using old APIs) that it is the only issuer in the mount. However, it is encouraged for applications to update to the newer, safer semantics associated with multi-issuer rotation.

warning

Note: When an import creates more than one new issuer with key material known to this mount, no default update will occur.

Sample payload​

{
  "default": "root-x1"
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/config/issuers

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "default": "3dc79a5a-7a6c-70e2-1123-94b88557ba12"
  }
}

Read keys configuration​

This endpoint allows getting the value of the default key.

MethodPath
GET/pki/config/keys

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/config/keys

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "default": "baadd98d-ec5a-66ac-06b7-dfc91c02c9cf"
  }
}

Set keys configuration​

This endpoint allows setting the value of the default key.

MethodPath
POST/pki/config/keys

Parameters​

  • default (string: "") - Specifies the default key (by reference; either a name or an ID).

Sample payload​

{
  "default": "baadd98d-ec5a-66ac-06b7-dfc91c02c9cf"
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/config/keys

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "default": "baadd98d-ec5a-66ac-06b7-dfc91c02c9cf"
  }
}

Read cluster configuration​

This endpoint fetches the cluster-local configuration.

The cluster-local config has path, which sets the URL to this mount on a particular cluster. This is useful for populating {{cluster_path}} during AIA URL templating, but may be used for other values in the future.

It also has aia_path, which allows using a non-OpenBao, external responder, setting the {{cluster_aia_path}} value for AIA URL templating. This is useful for distributing CA and CRL information over an unsecured, non-TLS channel.

MethodPath
GET/pki/config/cluster

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/config/cluster

Sample response​

{
  "lease_id": "",
  "renewable": false,
  "lease_duration": 0,
  "data": {
    "path": "<url>",
    "aia_path": "<url>"
  },
  "auth": null
}

Set cluster configuration​

This endpoint sets cluster-local configuration.

The cluster-local config has path, which sets the URL to this mount on a particular cluster. This is useful for populating {{cluster_path}} during AIA URL templating, but may be used for other values in the future.

It also has aia_path, which allows using a non-OpenBao, external responder, setting the {{cluster_aia_path}} value for AIA URL templating. This is useful for distributing CA and CRL information over an unsecured, non-TLS channel.

MethodPath
POST/pki/config/cluster

Parameters​

  • path (string: "") - Specifies the path to this cluster's API mount path, including any namespaces as path components. For example, https://a.openbao.example.com/v1/ns1/pki-root.

  • aia_path (string: "") - Specifies the path to this cluster's AIA distribution point; may refer to an external, non-OpenBao responder. This is for resolving AIA URLs and providing the {{cluster_aia_path}} template parameter and will not be used for other purposes. As such, unlike path above, this could safely be an insecure transit mechanism (like HTTP without TLS).

Sample payload​

{
  "path": "https://...",
  "aia_path": "http://..."
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/config/cluster

Read CRL configuration​

This endpoint allows getting the duration for which the generated CRL should be marked valid. No CRL configuration will be returned until the configuration is set, but the CRL will still default to enabled with 72h expiration.

MethodPath
GET/pki/config/crl

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/config/crl

Sample response​

{
  "lease_id": "",
  "renewable": false,
  "lease_duration": 0,
  "data": {
    "disable": false,
    "expiry": "72h",
    "ocsp_disable": false,
    "ocsp_expiry": "12h",
    "auto_rebuild": false,
    "auto_rebuild_grace_period": "12h",
    "enable_delta": false,
    "delta_rebuild_interval": "15m",
    "cross_cluster_revocation": true,
    "unified_crl": true,
    "unified_crl_on_existing_paths": true
  },
  "auth": null
}

Set revocation configuration​

This endpoint allows setting the duration for which the generated CRL should be marked valid. If the CRL is disabled, it will return a signed but zero-length CRL for any request. If enabled, it will re-build the CRL.

If the ocsp_disable key is set to true, the OCSP responder will always respond with an Unauthorized OCSP response to any request.

warning

Note: This parameter is global, across all clusters and issuers. Use the per-issuer usage field to disable CRL building for a specific issuer, while leaving the global CRL building enabled.

warning

Note: Disabling the CRL does not affect whether revoked certificates are stored internally. Certificates that have been revoked when a role's certificate storage is enabled will continue to be marked and stored as revoked until tidy has been run with the desired safety buffer. Re-enabling CRL generation will then result in all such certificates becoming a part of the CRL.

warning

Note: Enabling automatic rebuilding of CRLs disables immediate regeneration on revocation. This is in line with the behavior of other CAs which only rebuild CRLs periodically. We suggest manually hitting the rotate if a fresh CRL is necessary after a revocation. For the most part though, CRLs should not be relied upon for the latest certificate status information, and OCSP should be used instead.

warning

Note: The periodic function which controls automatic rebuilding of CRLs and delta CRLs only executes once a minute; this prevents high system load but limits the granularity of the temporal options below.

MethodPath
POST/pki/config/crl

Parameters​

  • expiry (string: "72h") - The amount of time the generated CRL should be valid.

  • disable (bool: false) - Disables or enables CRL building.

  • ocsp_disable (bool: false) - Disables or enables the OCSP responder in OpenBao.

  • ocsp_expiry (string: "12h") - The amount of time an OCSP response can be cached for, (controls the NextUpdate field), useful for OCSP stapling refresh durations. If set to 0 the NextUpdate field is not set, indicating newer revocation information is available all the time.

  • auto_rebuild (bool: false) - Enables or disables periodic rebuilding of the CRL upon expiry.

  • auto_rebuild_grace_period (string: "12h") - Grace period before CRL expiry to attempt rebuild of CRL. Must be shorter than the CRL expiry period.

  • enable_delta (bool: false) - Enables or disables building of delta CRLs with up-to-date revocation information, augmenting the last complete CRL. This option requires auto_rebuild to also be enabled.

  • delta_rebuild_interval (string: "15m") - Interval to check for new revocations on, to regenerate the delta CRL. Must be shorter than CRL expiry.

Sample payload​

{
  "expiry": "48h",
  "disable": "false",
  "ocsp_disable": "false",
  "ocsp_expiry": "12h",
  "auto_rebuild": "true",
  "auto_rebuild_grace_period": "8h",
  "enable_delta": "true",
  "delta_rebuild_interval": "10m",
  "cross_cluster_revocation": true,
  "unified_crl": true,
  "unified_crl_on_existing_paths": true,
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/config/crl

Rotate CRLs​

This endpoint forces a rotation of all issuers' CRLs. This can be used by administrators to cut the size of the CRL if it contains a number of certificates that have now expired, but has not been rotated due to no further certificates being revoked. If no certificates have been revoked, but the CRL has expired or is close to expiring, administrators must hit this endpoint to manually rotate the CRL. This rotates all CRLs on the present cluster, and must be called on every cluster.

warning

Note: Mirroring the behavior of earlier OpenBao versions, we add certificates revoked by an unknown issuer to the default issuer's CRL. To fully purge old revoked, unexpired certificates, it is not sufficient to delete their issuer and is instead necessary to remove the mount completely.

warning

Note: It is suggested to switch to enabling the CRL's auto_rebuild functionality to avoid having to manually hit the Rotate endpoint when the CRL expires. This ensures a valid CRL is always maintained, at the expense of potentially not being up-to-date. If a revocation occurs that must be immediately propagated, this endpoint can be used to regenerate the CRL, though distribution must still occur outside of OpenBao (either manually or via AIA where supported).

MethodPath
GET/pki/crl/rotate

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/crl/rotate

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "success": true
  }
}

Rotate delta CRLs​

This endpoint forces a rotation of all issuers' delta CRLs, when enabled. This can be used by administrators to force a rebuild of a delta CRL if high-profile revocations have occurred and there's a long high interval between delta rebuilds (delta_rebuild_interval).

See notes about rotating regular CRLs above as they apply here as well.

MethodPath
GET/pki/crl/rotate-delta

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/crl/rotate

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "success": true
  }
}

Combine CRLs from the same issuer​

This endpoint allows combining multiple different CRLs that have been signed by the same issuer into a single signed CRL. This is useful to generate a single authoritative CRL of revocations across distinct OpenBao clusters.

MethodPath
POST/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/resign-crls

Parameters​

  • issuer_ref (string: <required>) - Reference to an existing issuer, either by OpenBao-generated identifier, the literal string default to refer to the currently configured default issuer, or the name assigned to an issuer. This parameter is part of the request URL.
  • crls (list of strings: <required>) - A list of PEM encoded CRLs that have been signed by the issuer
  • crl_number (int: <required>) - The sequence number to be written within the CRL Number extension.
  • delta_crl_base_number (int: -1) - Using a value of 0 or greater specifies the base CRL revision number to encode within a Delta CRL indicator extension, otherwise the extension will not be added; defaults to -1.
  • format (string: pem) - The format of the combined CRL, can be "pem" or "der". If "der", the value will be base64 encoded; Defaults to "pem".
  • next_update (string: 72h) - The amount of time the generated CRL should be valid; defaults to 72 hours.

Sample payload​

{
  "crl_number": "10",
  "next_update": "24h",
  "crls": ["<PEM crl 1>", "<PEM crl 2>"],
  "format": "pem"
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    -request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/issuer/default/resign-crls

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "crl": "<PEM encoded crl>"
  }
}

Sign revocation list​

This endpoint allows generating a CRL based on the provided parameter data from any external source and signed by the specified issuer. Values are taken verbatim from the parameters provided.

This is a potentially dangerous endpoint and only highly trusted users should have access.

MethodPath
POST/pki/issuer/:issuer_ref/sign-revocation-list

Parameters​

  • issuer_ref (string: <required>) - Reference to an existing issuer, either by OpenBao-generated identifier, the literal string default to refer to the currently configured default issuer, or the name assigned to an issuer. This parameter is part of the request URL.
  • crl_number (int: <required>) - The sequence number to be written within the CRL Number extension.
  • delta_crl_base_number (int: -1) - Using a value of 0 or greater specifies the base CRL revision number to encode within a Delta CRL indicator extension, otherwise the extension will not be added; defaults to -1.
  • format (string: pem) - The format of the combined CRL, can be "pem" or "der". If "der", the value will be base64 encoded; Defaults to "pem".
  • next_update (string: 72h) - The amount of time the generated CRL should be valid; defaults to 72 hours.
  • revoked_certs (type: slice of maps) - Each element contains revocation information for a single serial number along with the revocation time and the serial's extensions if any. Each element can have the following key/values
    • serial_number (type: string) - the serial number of the revoked cert
    • revocation_time (type: string) - the revocation time, unix int format or RFC3339 encoding supported
    • extensions (type: slice of maps) - A slice of all extensions that should be added to the revoked certificate entry. Each ele,ent contains a map with the following entries
      • id (type: string) - an ASN1 object identifier in dot notation
      • critical (type: bool) - should the extension be marked critical
      • value (type: string) - base64 encoded bytes for extension value
  • extensions (type: slice of maps) - A slice of all extensions that should be added to the generated CRL each element containing a map with the following entries.
    • id (type: string) - an ASN1 object identifier in dot notation
    • critical (type: bool) - should the extension be marked critical
    • value (type: string) - base64 encoded bytes for extension value
warning

Note: The following extension ids are not allowed to be provided and can be influenced by other parameters

  • 2.5.29.20: CRL Number
  • 2.5.29.27: Delta CRL
  • 2.5.29.35: Authority Key Identifier

Sample payload​

{
  "crl_number": "10",
  "next_update": "24h",
  "format": "pem",
  "revoked_certs": [
    {
      "serial_number": "39:dd:2e:90:b7:23:1f:8d:d3:7d:31:c5:1b:da:84:d0:5b:65:31:58",
      "revocation_time": "2009-11-10T23:00:00Z"
    },
    {
      "serial_number": "40:33:2e:90:b7:23:1f:8d:d3:7d:31:c5:1b:da:84:d0:5b:65:31:58",
      "revocation_time": "1257894000"
    }
  ]
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    -request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/issuer/default/sign-revocation-list

Sample response​

{
  "data": {
    "crl": "<PEM encoded crl>"
  }
}

Tidy​

This endpoint allows tidying up the storage backend and/or CRL by removing certificates that have expired and are past a certain buffer period beyond their expiration time.

MethodPath
POST/pki/tidy
warning

Note: it is encouraged to use the automatic tidy capabilities to ensure this gets run periodically.

Parameters​

  • tidy_cert_store (bool: false) - Specifies whether to tidy up the certificate store.

  • tidy_revoked_certs (bool: false) - Set to true to remove all revoked and expired certificates from storage. A revoked storage entry is considered invalid if the entry is empty, or the value within the entry is empty. If a certificate is removed due to expiry, the entry will also be removed from the CRL, and the CRL will be rotated.

  • tidy_invalid_certs (bool: false) - Set to true to remove all invalid certificates from storage. A certificate is considered invalid if it cannot be parsed by Go's X.509 certificate parser.

  • tidy_revoked_cert_issuer_associations (bool: false) - Set to true to associate revoked certificates with their corresponding issuers; this improves the performance of OCSP and CRL building, by shifting work to a tidy operation instead.

warning

Note: With multiple issuers, a CA which issued a particular revoked certificate may be removed and re-added, resulting in a different issuer ID value. When building CRLs, these links are automatically updated for any missing or added issuers, but during OCSP this value is computed and then discarded, potentially causing a performance penalty on each request. During regular CA operations, it is not necessary to run this operation.



It is suggested to run this tidy when removing or importing new issuers but otherwise not to run it during automatic tidy operations.

  • tidy_expired_issuers (bool: false) - Set to true to automatically remove expired issuers after the issuer_safety_buffer duration has elapsed. We log the issuer certificate on removal to allow recovery; no keys are removed during this process.
warning

Note: The default issuer will not be removed even if it has expired and is past the issuer_safety_buffer specified.

  • tidy_move_legacy_ca_bundle (bool: false) - Set to true to backup any legacy CA/issuers bundle to config/ca_bundle.bak. This can be restored with sys/raw back to config/ca_bundle if necessary, but won't impact mount startup (as mounts will attempt to read the latter and do a migration of CA issuers if present). Migration will only occur after issuer_safety_buffer has passed since the last successful migration.

  • safety_buffer (string: "") - Specifies a duration using duration format strings used as a safety buffer to ensure certificates are not expunged prematurely; as an example, this can keep certificates from being removed from the CRL that, due to clock skew, might still be considered valid on other hosts. For a certificate to be expunged, the time must be after the expiration time of the certificate (according to the local clock) plus the duration of safety_buffer. Defaults to 72h. This value applies to both expired and revoked certificates unless revoked_safety_buffer has been set, in which case safety_buffer only applies to expired, non-revoked certificates.

  • revoked_safety_buffer (string: "") - Specifies a duration using duration format strings used as a safety buffer for revoked, expired certificates to ensure they are not expunged prematurely. This value takes precedence over safety_buffer when set; otherwise, safety_buffer applies to revoked, expired certificates as well when unset.

  • issuer_safety_buffer (string: "") - Specifies a duration that issuers should be kept for, past their NotAfter validity period. Defaults to 365 days as hours (8760h).

  • pause_duration (string: "0s") - Specifies the duration to pause between tidying individual certificates. This releases the revocation lock and allows other operations to continue while tidy is paused. This allows an operator to control tidy's resource utilization within a timespan: the LIST operation will remain in memory, but the space between reading, parsing, and updates on-disk cert entries will be increased, decreasing resource utilization.

    Does not affect tidy_expired_issuers.

warning

Note: Using too long of a pause_duration can result in tidy operations not concluding during this lifetime! Using too short of a pause duration (but non-zero) can lead to lock contention. Use tidy's cancellation to stop a running operation after the sleep period is over.

  • page_size (int: 1000) - The number of certificates to process per page during list pagination in tidy. This setting enables tidy to handle certificates in smaller increments, rather than loading the entire set into memory at once. Defaults to 1000 certificates, with a minimum of 5 certificates per page. To revert to the old behavior, set page size to any value less than zero.

  • revocation_queue_safety_buffer (string: "") - Specifies a duration after which cross-cluster revocation requests will be removed as expired. This should be set high enough that, if a cluster disappears for a while but later comes back, any revocation requests which it should process will still be there, but not too long as to fill up storage with too many invalid requests. Defaults to 48h.

  • tidy_acme (bool: false) - Set to true to tidy stale ACME accounts, orders, authorizations, EABs, and challenges. ACME orders are tidied (deleted) safety_buffer after the certificate associated with them expires, or after the order and relevant authorizations have expired if no certificate was produced. Authorizations are tidied with the corresponding order.

    When a valid ACME Account is at least acme_account_safety_buffer old, and has no remaining orders associated with it, the account is marked as revoked. After another acme_account_safety_buffer has passed from the revocation or deactivation date, a revoked or deactivated ACME account is deleted.

  • acme_account_safety_buffer (string: "720h") - The amount of time that must pass after creation that an account with no orders is marked revoked, and the amount of time after being marked revoked or deactivated. The default is 30 days as hours.

Sample payload​

{
  "safety_buffer": "24h"
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/tidy

Read automatic tidy configuration​

This endpoint fetches the current automatic tidy configuration.

This is the combination of the periodic invocation parameters described in the below write handler and the tidy parameters described above in the tidy endpoint.

MethodPath
GET/pki/config/auto-tidy

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/config/auto-tidy

Sample response​

{
  "lease_id": "",
  "renewable": false,
  "lease_duration": 0,
  "data": {
    "enabled": false,
    "interval_duration": 43200,
    "issuer_safety_buffer": 31536000,
    "maintain_stored_certificate_counts": false,
    "pause_duration": "0s",
    "page_size": 50,
    "publish_stored_certificate_count_metrics": false,
    "revocation_queue_safety_buffer": 172800,
    "safety_buffer": 259200,
    "tidy_cert_store": false,
    "tidy_cross_cluster_revoked_certs": false,
    "tidy_expired_issuers": false,
    "tidy_move_legacy_ca_bundle": false,
    "tidy_revocation_queue": false,
    "tidy_revoked_cert_issuer_associations": false,
    "tidy_revoked_certs": false,
    "tidy_invalid_certs": false
  },
  "auth": null
}

Set automatic tidy configuration​

This endpoint allows configuring periodic tidy operations, using the tidy mechanism described above. Status is from automatically run tidies are still reported at the status endpoint described below.

MethodPath
POST/pki/config/auto-tidy

Parameters​

The below parameters are in addition to the regular parameters accepted by the /pki/tidy endpoint documented above.

  • enabled (bool: false) - Specifies whether automatic tidy is enabled or not.

  • interval_duration (string: "") - Specifies the duration between automatic tidy operations; note that this is from the end of one operation to the start of the next so the time of the operation itself does not need to be considered. Defaults to 12h

  • maintain_stored_certificate_counts (bool: false) - When enabled, maintains expensive counts of certificates. During initialization of the mount, a LIST of all certificates is performed to get a baseline figure and throughout operations like issuance, revocation, and subsequent tidies, the figure is updated.

warning

Note: It is strongly recommend to not enable this value if 50k or more certificates are stored in the mount or if many PKI mounts are in use in this cluster. Instead, use audit logs and aggregate this data externally to OpenBao so as not to impact OpenBao performance.

  • publish_stored_certificate_count_metrics (bool: false) - When enabled, publishes the value computed by maintain_stored_certificate_counts to the mount's metrics. This requires the former to be enabled.

Sample payload​

{
  "enabled": true,
  "tidy_revoked_cert_issuer_associations": true,
  "safety_buffer": "24h"
}

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/config/auto-tidy

Tidy status​

This is a read only endpoint that returns information about the current tidy operation, or the most recent if none are currently running.

The result includes the following fields:

  • safety_buffer: the value of this parameter when initiating the tidy operation
  • revoked_safety_buffer: the calculated value of this parameter when initiating the tidy operation
  • tidy_cert_store: the value of this parameter when initiating the tidy operation
  • tidy_revoked_certs: the value of this parameter when initiating the tidy operation
  • tidy_invalid_certs: the value of this parameter when initiating the tidy operation
  • state: one of Inactive, Running, Finished, Error, Cancelling, or Cancelled
  • error: the error message, if the operation ran into an error
  • time_started: the time the operation started
  • time_finished: the time the operation finished
  • message: One of Tidying certificate store: checking entry N of TOTAL or Tidying revoked certificates: checking certificate N of TOTAL
  • cert_store_deleted_count: The number of certificate storage entries deleted
  • revoked_cert_deleted_count: The number of revoked certificate entries deleted
  • missing_issuer_cert_count: The number of revoked certificates which were missing a valid issuer reference
  • tidy_expired_issuers: the value of this parameter when initiating the tidy operation
  • issuer_safety_buffer: the value of this parameter when initiating the tidy operation
  • tidy_move_legacy_ca_bundle: the value of this parameter when initiating the tidy operation
  • tidy_revocation_queue: the value of this parameter when initiating the tidy operation
  • revocation_queue_deleted_count: the number of revocation queue entries deleted
  • tidy_cross_cluster_revoked_certs: the value of this parameter when initiating the tidy operation
  • cross_revoked_cert_deleted_count: the number of cross-cluster revoked certificate entries deleted
  • revocation_queue_safety_buffer: the value of this parameter when initiating the tidy operation
  • pause_duration: the value of this parameter when initiating the tidy operation
  • page_size: the value of this parameter when initiating the tidy operation
  • last_auto_tidy_finished: the time when the last auto-tidy operation finished; may be different than time_finished especially if the last operation was a manually executed tidy operation. Set to current time at mount time to delay the initial auto-tidy operation; not persisted.
MethodPath
GET/pki/tidy-status

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request GET \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/tidy-status

Sample response​

  "data": {
    "safety_buffer": 60,
    "tidy_cert_store": true,
    "tidy_revoked_certs": true,
    "error": null,
    "message": "Tidying certificate store: checking entry 234 of 488",
    "revoked_cert_deleted_count": 0,
    "cert_store_deleted_count": 2,
    "state": "Running",
    "time_started": "2021-10-20T14:52:13.510161-04:00",
    "time_finished": null
  },

Cancel tidy​

This endpoint allows cancelling a running tidy operation. It takes no parameter and cancels the tidy at the next available checkpoint, which may process additional certificates between when the operation was marked as cancelled and when the operation stopped.

The response to this endpoint is the same as the status.

MethodPath
POST/pki/tidy-cancel

Sample request​

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/tidy-cancel

Sample response​

  "data": {
    "safety_buffer": 60,
    "tidy_cert_store": true,
    "tidy_revoked_certs": true,
    "error": null,
    "message": "Tidying certificate store: checking entry 234 of 488",
    "revoked_cert_deleted_count": 0,
    "cert_store_deleted_count": 2,
    "state": "Cancelling",
    "time_started": "2021-10-20T14:52:13.510161-04:00",
    "time_finished": null
  },

Cluster scalability​

See PKI Cluster Scalability in the considerations page.

OpenBao CLI with DER/PEM responses​

The OpenBao CLI can only display JSON responses. For APIs that return non-JSON formatted data such as DER and PEM formats, bao read will fail without the -format=raw option or another client such as curl must be used.